Nephrosis
/nɛˈfroʊ.sɪs/noun
A non-inflammatory degenerative disease of the kidneys, especially one involving damage to the kidney tubules.
Did you know?The medical root nephr- comes from Greek nephros, and it also lives on in words like nephrite and nephrology, showing how one body-part root became a whole scientific vocabulary.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
nephros
“kidney”
Late Greek
Greek
-ōsis
“a condition, state, or process, especially in disease terms”
19th Century
New Latin
nephrosis
“a kidney disorder or diseased condition of the kidneys”
Modern English
English
nephrosis
“a non-inflammatory degenerative kidney disease”
Explore more surprising origins