sclerosis

sclerosis — noun

1. a disease in which soft body parts gradually turn stiff and thick, most often af

1.nounC1
Definition

a disease in which soft body parts gradually turn stiff and thick, most often affecting blood vessel walls, the spinal cord, or other organs.

Example

After a check-up, Dr. Marta Santos told Takeshi that his arteries show signs of sclerosis.

diagnostic context: 'signs of sclerosis'

Tuan's grandmother has multiple sclerosis and now uses a wheelchair to get around.

compound medical term: 'multiple sclerosis'

Common collocations
  • artery sclerosis
  • blood vessel sclerosis
  • multiple sclerosis
  • arteriosclerosis
  • progressive sclerosis
  • signs of sclerosis
Synonyms
  • hardening

    non-technical everyday word for the same process; sclerosis is the formal medical term

  • fibrosis

    a related condition involving overgrowth of fibrous tissue, but not identical to sclerosis

Grammar Patterns

sclerosis of + body part

Usage Note

Sclerosis is a general medical description of tissue change rather than a specific disease name by itself. It most commonly appears within compound terms such as 'arteriosclerosis' (hardening of the arteries) and 'multiple sclerosis' (a nerve-damaging condition).

Common Mistakes

My uncle died from sclerosis.
My uncle died from arteriosclerosis.
'Sclerosis' alone describes a tissue change; the specific disease usually has a full name.

Word family

  • sclerotic
    adjectiveC1
  • arteriosclerosis
    nounC1
  • multiple sclerosis
    nounB2
  • atherosclerosis
    nounC1
  • scleroderma
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Hardening is the everyday English word for the same tissue change that sclerosis describes in medical language — you might say 'the hardening of the arteries' in casual conversation. Fibrosis is a related but distinct process in which excess fibrous connective tissue builds up, often as a result of injury or inflammation; while sclerosis involves general thickening and stiffening, fibrosis specifically involves scar-like tissue. Arteriosclerosis is the most common specific form of sclerosis, limited to the arteries, and is frequently used interchangeably with 'sclerosis' in everyday medical talk. For example, a doctor might tell a patient 'you have some hardening of the arteries' (non-technical), 'your arteries show arteriosclerosis' (specific), or 'there is evidence of vascular sclerosis' (general medical description).

hardeningfibrosisarteriosclerosis

Common collocations

Nouns

  • artery
  • blood vessel
  • tissue
  • arterial wall

Phrases

  • signs of sclerosis
  • risk of sclerosis
  • form of sclerosis

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

From Greek 'sklērōsis' (σκλήρωσις), meaning 'a hardening', which comes from 'sklēros' (σκληρός), meaning 'hard'. The word entered medical Latin in the 14th century and has been used in English for various tissue-hardening conditions ever since.