Malacia
/məˈleɪ.ʃə/noun
Abnormal softening of a body tissue, usually specified by the affected organ or structure.
Did you know?Medical terms such as osteomalacia preserve the Greek idea of malakia, “softness,” while the related word malakos could also describe something weak or pliant.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European (proposed)
PIE
*mel- / *melg-
“Soft or yielding; the deeper Indo-European source proposed for the Greek and Latin softening vocabulary”
Ancient Greek
Greek
μαλακός (malakos)
“Soft, tender, weak, or pliant”
Ancient Greek
Greek
μαλακία (malakia)
“Softness or a condition of being soft”
Late Greek medical usage
Greek
malakia
“Softening, especially in a pathological or anatomical sense”
19th Century
Medical English
-malacia
“A combining form meaning abnormal softening of a tissue or organ”
Modern English
English
malacia
“Abnormal softening of body tissue”