▪ I. dys-
obs. spelling of dis-, in many words.
▪ II. dys-, prefix
(dɪs)
repr. Gr. δυσ- [= Skr. dus-, OTeut. *tuz-, OHG. z{uacu}r- (Ger. zer-), ON. tor-, OE. tó- in to-break, etc.] ‘inseparable prefix, opp. to εὖ [see eu-], with notion of hard, bad, unlucky, etc.; destroying the good sense of a word, or increasing its bad sense’ (Liddell and Scott). In Eng. used in many words, chiefly scientific, derived or compounded from Greek; the more important of these are entered as Main words; others (mostly pathological) follow here.
dysanˈgelical a. (nonce-wd.), used in opposition to evangelical; dyˈsarthria [Gr. ἄρθρον joint, articulation], defective or deranged articulation in speaking; whence dyˈsarthric a., belonging to dysarthria; dysarthrosis (dɪsɑːˈθrəʊsɪs) [Gr. ἄρθρωσις articulation], (a) faulty articulation or congenital dislocation of a joint; (b) = dysarthria; dysbasia (-ˈbeɪsɪə) [Gr. βάσις stepping, step], difficulty in walking; dyschezia (-ˈkiːzɪə) [Gr. χέζ-εῖν to defecate + -ia1], difficult or painful defecation; dyscholic (-ˈkɒlɪk), a. [Gr. χολή bile], arising from bilious disorder (nonce-wd.); dyschromaˈtopsia, -ˈchromatopsy [Gr. χρωµατ- colour + -οψία seeing, sight], deranged vision of colours, colour-blindness; hence dyschromaˈtoptic a., colour-blind; ˈdyschronous a., not agreeing as to time, separate as to time; spec. in Ecology, not overlapping in period of blooming; dysciˈnesia: see dyskinesia; dysepuˈlotic, -ical adjs. [Gr. ἐπουλωτικός (Galen) promoting cicatrization], difficult to heal or cicatrize; dysgenesis (-ˈdʒɛnɪsɪs) [Gr. γένεσις production], difficulty in breeding; spec. used by Broca for that degree of sexual affinity in which the offspring are sterile among themselves, but capable of producing (sterile) offspring with either of the parental races (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1883); so dysgenesic (-dʒɪˈnɛsɪk), a. [F. dysgénésique]; dysgeogenous (-dʒiːˈɒdʒɪnəs), a. [ad. F. dysgéogène (Thurmann 1849), f. Gr. γῆ, γεω- earth + -gène, taken in sense ‘producing’], not readily decomposing into good soil; the opposite of eugeogenous; dysgraˈmmatical a., pertaining to faults of speech arising from disease; dysˈidrosis (also dyshi-) [Gr. ἱδρώς sweat], a disease of the sweat-glands, in which the sweat is retained and produces swellings; dyskiˈnesia (also dysci-) [Gr. δυσκινησία (Hippoc.)], a class of diseases in which voluntary motion is impeded; dyslalia (dɪˈsleɪlɪə), dyslaly (ˈdɪsləlɪ) [Gr. λαλία speaking], derangement or impediment in speech, spec. that due to defects in the organs of speech or motor nerves; dysˈlexia [Gr. λέξις ‘speaking’ (here taken in sense ‘reading’), first formed as G. dyslexie (R. Berlin 1883, in Med. Correspondenz-Blatt des Württemberg. ärztl. Landesvereins LIII. 209)], a difficulty in reading due to affection of the brain; spec. = word-blindness (word n. 29); hence dysˈlectic, dysˈlexic adjs. and ns.; dyslogia (-ˈləʊdʒɪə) [Gr. -λογία speaking, speech]: see quot.; hence dysˈlogical a.; dysˈmetria [Gr. µέτρον measure], inability to control the range of movement in a muscular action; dysnomy (ˈdɪsnəmɪ) [Gr. δυσνοµία lawlessness, f. νόµος law], a bad system of law (rare—0); dysˈopia, dysˈopsia, -ˈopsy [Gr. ὤψ (ὠπ-) eye, face, -οψία sight, vision], defect or derangement of vision (Hooper Med. Dict. 1811); dysoˈrexia, -xy [Gr. δυσορεξία (Galen)], defective or depraved appetite; dyspareunia (-pəˈruːnɪə) [Gr. πάρευνος (f. παρά beside + εὐνή bed) lying beside or with + -ia1], difficult or painful sexual intercourse; dysphasia (-ˈfeɪzɪə) [Gr. δύσϕατος hard to utter, -ϕασία speaking], derangement in speech due to confusion or loss of ideas arising from affection of the brain (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1883); hence dysphasic (-ˈfæzɪk), a.; dysphemia (-ˈfiːmɪə) [Gr. δυσϕηµία ill language], stammering (see quots.); hence dysˈphemic, one who stutters; dysphonia (-ˈfəʊnɪə), dysphony (ˈdɪsfənɪ), [Gr. δυσϕωνία ‘harshness of sound’], difficulty of speaking arising from affection of the vocal organs; hence dysphonic (-ˈfɒnɪk), a., affected with dysphonia; dysˈphotic a. Ecology [Gr. ϕῶς, ϕωτ- light], poorly lighted, used esp. of those depths in oceans, lakes, etc., where some light penetrates but brings about little or no photosynthesis; also erron. disphotic; dysˈpneumony nonce-wd. [Gr. πνεύµων lung], disease or affection of the lungs; dysˈrhythmia, an abnormal or disordered rhythm; spec., an abnormal rhythm in the electrical waves shown in an electroencephalogram; hence dysˈrhythmic a. and n.; dysˈspermatism [Gr. σπερµατισµός emission of semen (LXX.)], impeded emission of semen (Hooper Med. Dict. 1811); dysthesia (-ˈθiːsɪə), dysthesy (ˈdɪsθɪsɪ) [Gr. δυσθεσία], a bad condition or habit of body; hence dysthetic (-ˈθɛtɪk), a.; dysthymia (-ˈθaɪmɪə) [Gr. δυσθυµία despondency], despondency or depression; dysˈthymic (-ˈθɪmɪk), a. [f. Gr. δύσθῡµ-ος desponding + -ic], affected with despondency or depression of spirits; n., a person affected with dysthymia; dystocia (-ˈtəʊsɪə), dystokia, incorrectly -tochia (-ˈtɒkɪə) [Gr. δυστοκία], difficult or painful childbirth; hence dysˈtocial a.; dystome (ˈdɪstəʊm), dystomic (dɪˈstɒmɪk), dystomous (ˈdɪstɒməs), adjs. Min. [Gr. δύστοµος hard to cut], having imperfect fracture; cleaving with difficulty; dystrophia (-ˈtrɒfɪə), dystrophy (ˈdɪstrəfɪ) [Gr. -τροϕία nourishment], defective nourishment (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1883); hence dyˈstrophic a., (a) pertaining to or characterized by dystrophy; (b) Ecology [ad. G. dystroph (A. Thienemann Binnengewässer Mitteleuropas (1925) iv. 198, 201)], of a lake: having much dissolved organic matter.
1834 Southey Corr. w. Caroline Bowles (1881) 318 What I call the *Dysangelical party. |
1878 Ziemssen's Cycl. Med. XIV. 613 The latter [lalopathia] thus includes *dysarthrias (including dyslalias and dysphasias). |
Ibid. 612 *Dysarthric disturbances of speech. |
1890 Gould New Med. Dict. 138/1 *Dysbasia, difficulty of walking. Proposed instead of abasia, since in the affection there is rarely absolute inability to walk. 1962 R. N. DeJong in A. B. Baker Clin. Neurol. (ed. 2) I. i. 52 In the hysterical dysbasia there is often marked swaying from side to side. |
1848 Dunglison Dict. Med. Sci. (ed. 7) *Dyschezia. 1915 R. Knox Radiography i. 233 Dyschezia, in which the passage through the colon is normal, but defaecation is inefficiently performed. 1969 M. Paulson Gastroenterologic Med. xlv. 1196/1 Rectal constipation (dyschezia, simple constipation, simple retention) may be defined as a failure of the defecation reflex. |
1889 Ch. Q. Rev. 441 Views..formed under the predominating influence of eucholic and *dyscholic expressions of thought prevalent at the time. |
1890 H. Ellis Criminal iii. 117 *Dyschromatopsia has been found common. |
1886 Sat. Rev. 10 Apr. 515 A *dyschromatoptic patient. |
1902 Science 4 July 5/1 Consciousness..can make synchronous impressions dyschronous in their effects, and *dyschronous impressions synchronous. 1924 Ecology V. 393 A species, genus or family which does not overlap [in blooming time] with any of its relatives, or a group which contains species which do not overlap with their relatives, may be called dyschronous. |
1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Dysepulotica, in medicine, great ulcers beyond cure. |
1851–60 Mayne Expos. Lex., Dysepuloticus.. difficult to be healed..*dysepulotic. |
1657 Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 205 The ulcer is sometimes left *dysepulotical. |
1878 Bartley tr. Topinard's Anthrop. ii. vii. 369 M. Broca has defined the various degrees of sexual affinity..thus:—Abortive, Agenesic, *Dysgenesic, without offspring; Paragenesic, Eugenesic, with offspring. 1863 J. G. Baker N. Yorksh. 152 The *dysgeogenous hills..a range of calcareous hills which are somewhat lower in altitude. 1888 F. A. Lees Flora West Yorksh. 65 Dysgeogenous Rocks..are homogeneous in nature, hard or moderately so, very permeable to water, etc. |
1878 Ziemssen's Cycl. Med. XIV. 793 [Faults of speech] which arise from disease and which we designate by the term *dysgrammatical derangements. |
1876 Duhring Dis. Skin 236 *Dysidrosis. Fox has described this disease. |
1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Dyscinesia. 1879 G. Hewitt in Reynolds Syst. Med. V. 702 Uterine dyskinesia is one of the earliest symptoms of uterine flexion. 1883 Syd. Soc. Lex., Uterine Dyscinesia. Graily Hewett's term for inability to walk or move, or perform certain of the ordinary motions of the body, without producing pain referable to the uterus. |
1851–60 Mayne Expos. Lex., *Dyslalia. |
1856 Househ. Words Nov. 465 Learnedly speaking, stammering is an idiopathic *dyslaly. 1876 Ziemssen's Cycl. Med. XIV. 612 It is usual to designate those [lesions of articulation] which depend clearly upon gross mechanical defects in the external apparatuses of speech and their motor nerves as dyslalia in contradistinction to the true or central dysarthrosis. |
1886–8 W. R. Gowers Dis. Nerv. Syst. (1892) I. 297 The cerebral symptom..‘*dyslexia’ a peculiar intermitting difficulty in reading. 1888 Arch. Ophthalmol. XVII. 307 The term ‘dyslexia’..signifies an inability to read to one's self or aloud for a short time. 1957 L. E. Travis Handbk. Speech Path. (1959) ii. 54 Dyslexia, partial inability to read characterized by associative learning difficulty; a form of dysphasia. 1960 New Scientist 15 Sept. 738/2 There might be a special category of reading backwardness which could be delimited and termed ‘specific dyslexia’—though the deplorable name of ‘word blindness’ should be avoided. 1964 L. Kaiser in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 108 Several factors may lead to dyslexia. |
1961 M. Critchley in Trans. Ophthalmological Soc. U.K. LXXXI. 473 Some *dyslexics cannot place in correct serial order days of the week or months of the year. Ibid., Poor muscular co-ordination has often been witnessed in the younger dyslexic children. 1964 L. Kaiser in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 108 The right hand..may be undeveloped in the dyslectic child. 1965 Sunday Times 10 Oct. 58/4 The most inspiriting contender for the title of the World's Greatest Dyslexic: Hans Christian Andersen. 1966 Sat. Rev. 16 Apr. 82/1 (heading) Teaching the dyslexic child. |
1883 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Dyslogia, a defect of speech in which the individual words are correctly formed, but are so put together as to express a disturbance of thought. |
1878 Ziemssen's Cycl. Med. XIV. 790 An instance of *dyslogical paragraphia. |
1911 T. L. Stedman Pract. Med. Dict. 257/2 *Dysmetria, a form of dysergia in which the subject is unable to arrest a muscular movement at the desired point or, sometimes, to prevent an involuntary reverse movement. 1913 G. Holmes in White & Jellife Mod. Treatm. Nerv. & Mental Dis. II. xiv. 630 Cerebellar disease produces a disproportion in the elements of a movement, and there results therefrom what Babinski has termed a dysmetria. 1952 New Biol. XIII. 55 The dysmetria characteristic of cerebellar disease consists in an incapacity to stop a movement at the intended place, with resulting overswing. 1970 Nature 19 Sept. 1228/2 Dysmetria will result from the malfunctioning of both cerebellar nuclei and cerebellar cortex. |
1623 Cockeram, *Dysnomie, ill ordering of lawes. |
1656 Blount Glossogr., *Dysopsie, dimness, ill sight. |
1706 Phillips, *Dysorexia, a decay or want of Appetite. 1828 Webster, Dysorexy, a bad or depraved appetite; a want of appetite. Coxe. |
1873 R. Barnes Clin. Hist. Dis. Women vi. 61 We want a word to express the condition of difficult or painful performance of the sexual function... I have determined to adopt the word ‘*dyspareunia’. 1962 Lancet 12 May 1011/2 An assortment of pains in various sites, sexual frigidity, dyspareunia, and general nervousness, fears, and depression. |
1878 Ziemssen's Cycl. Med. XIV. 613 Dysarthric and *dysphasic disturbances taken together constituting what are properly considered as true disturbances of speech. |
1894 C. F. Coxwell in Intercolonial Q. Jrnl. Med. & Surg. I. 3 *Dysphemia, or stammering, is regarded by most persons as an annoying trick. 1933 S. M. Stinchfield Speech Disorders vi. 116 Dysphemia is defined as intermittent and variable nervous disorders of speech accompanying certain psychoneuroses. 1940 Q. Jrnl. Speech Apr. 203 Dysphemia, speech difficulty, usually related to a psychoneurotic or nervous condition. 1957 L. E. Travis Handbk. Speech Path. (1959) ii. 55 Dysphemia, a nervous disorder of speech arising from psychological disturbance; includes stuttering. |
1894 C. F. Coxwell in Intercolonial Q. Jrnl. Med. & Surg. I. 3 The *dysphemic can speak, as a rule, tolerably well in private. |
1706 Phillips, *Dysphonia, a Difficulty of Speech, occasion'd by an ill-Disposition of the Organs. 1866 A. Flint Princ. Med. (1880) 309 There is dysphonia, but not complete loss of voice. |
1872 Cohen Dis. Throat 164 At other times the patient wakes up in the morning aphonic or *dysphonic. |
1903 W. R. Fisher tr. Schimper's Plant Geogr. iii. v. iii. 811 The flora of the *dysphotic region is composed almost exclusively of microphytes. 1958 P. Lake Physical Geogr. (ed. 4) xviii. 424 The water column can..be divided into..the disphotic zone with insufficient light for photosynthesis. 1970 B. H. McConnaughey Introd. Marine Biol. i. 17 Below the euphotic zone are the dysphotic, or mesopelagic, depths extending down to about 1000 metres. |
1839 Sterling Let. 30 June in Carlyle Life iii. i, Rather I think from dyspepsia than *dyspneumony. |
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., *Dysrhythmia. 1939 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. CXIII. 1002/2 [Electro-encephalographic] records were made..of twenty-six patients who had cerebral dysrhythmia. 1962 Listener 7 June 994/2 In all susceptible patients bursts of abnormal electric activity of the brain (so-called dysrhythmia) could be induced by flicker from the stroboscope. 1965 W. R. Brain Speech Disorders (ed. 2) xiii. 150 The dysrhythmias [of speech] include cluttering and stuttering. 1969 W. Cleland et al. Med. & Surg. Cardiol. ii. 43 Absence of the P wave may be due to sinoatrial block or atrial dysrhythmia. |
1941 W. G. Lennox Science & Seizures (ed. 3) xi. 90 These ‘asymptomatic *dysrhythmic’ individuals form a reservoir from which persons with seizures are drawn. 1944 Proc. R. Soc. Med. XXXVII. 319 Comparison between dysrhythmics in whom fits occur and those in whom they do not occur may be artificial. 1965 W. R. Brain Speech Disorders (ed. 2) xiii. 150 Truncated dysrhythmic and incoherent utterance. |
1822–34 Good Study Med. (ed. 4) II. 605 Followed by secondary symptoms or a syphilitic *dysthesy. |
Ibid. I. 282 Persons of weakly and inelastic fibres, and *dysthetic habits. |
1844 Dunglison Med. Dict. 254/2 *Dysthymia, depression, despondency. 1944 H. J. Eysenck in Jrnl. Mental Sci. XC. 855 The term ‘affective disorder’ or ‘dysthymia’ is suggested for the anxiety-depression-obsessional group. |
1847 Craig, *Dysthymic, desponding; depressed in mind. 1864 Webster, Dysthymic, affected with despondency; depressed in spirits; dejected. 1947 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. May 135 Twenty-five female dysthymics. 1961 New Scientist 26 Oct. 225 An anxious neurotic patient, or dysthymic. |
1706 Phillips, *Dystocia, a Difficulty of bringing forth. 1811 Hooper Med. Dict., Dystochia. |
1828 M. Ryan Man. Midwifery 308 In consequence of difficult, tedious and *dystocial labors. |
1847 Craig, *Dystomic, in Mineralogy, having an imperfect fracture or cleavage. 1864 Webster, Dystome, Dystomic, Dystomous. |
1893 S. D'Odiardi Med. Electr. 54 The agents of demolition or elimination, called *dystrophics or denutrients. 1893 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 4 Nov. 998 The dystrophic view of sclerosis. 1931 R. N. Chapman Animal Ecology xvi. 305 The *dystrophic lake, or brown-water lake, is found among peat bogs. 1959 J. Clegg Freshwater Life Brit. Isles (ed. 2) ii. 38 The so-called Dystrophic lake..which is generally understood to be a lake with a bottom composed of peaty humus and very soft, acid water. 1967 G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. II. xxii. 380 The water color involved in the separation of Thienemann's dystrophic type is ordinarily regarded as due to extractives from bog soils and peat. |
1886 W. R. Gowers Dis. Nerv. Syst. I. 386 Idiopathic Muscular Atrophy..Muscular *Dystrophy. |
Add:
dystrophia myotonica Path. [coined in
Ger. (H. Curschmann 1915, in
Deut. Zeitschr. f. Nervenheilkunde LIII. 126)]
= myotonia atrophica s.v. myotonia n. 2 b.
1923 Brain XLVI. 125 *Dystrophia myotonica is a disease sui generis within the group of heredo-familial degenerative disorders. 1963, 1974 [see myotonia atrophica s.v. myotonia n. 2 b]. 1989 Collier & Longmore Oxf. Handbk. Clin. Specialties (ed. 2) vi. 504 Dot opacities are common in normal lenses but are also found in fast-developing cataracts in diabetes and dystrophia myotonica. |