‖ rachitis
(rəˈkaɪtɪs)
[mod.L., a. Gr. ῥαχῖτις (f. ῥάχις rachis + -ιτις -itis), properly meaning ‘inflammation of the spine’, but adopted by Gleeson, 1650, in his work De Rachitide as a learned form of rickets.]
1. = rickets.
| 1727–41 in Chambers Cycl. 1799 Underwood Treat. Dis. Childr. (ed. 4) I. 339 It was named Rachitis, from the Greek, implying that the spina dorsi is particularly affected by it. 1830 R. Knox Béclard's Anat. 241 The vertebral column presents this softening in a very marked degree in cases of rachitis. 1847–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. IV. 712/2 In rachitis, the bones may be bent in any direction. 1876 tr. Wagner's Gen. Pathol. (ed. 6) 14 Phthisis and rachitis, which usually last for years. |
2. Bot. ‘An abortion of the fruit or seed’.
| 1864 Webster cites Henslow. |