Osteoporosis
/ˌɑːsti.oʊ.pəˈroʊ.sɪs/noun
A disease in which bones become weak, brittle, and more likely to break.
Did you know?Osteoporosis was coined in modern medical Latin/Greek, but its roots go back to Greek words for “bone” and “porous,” making the condition’s name a brutally literal description of bones riddled with tiny holes.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
osteon
“bone”
Ancient Greek
Greek
poros
“passage; pore; passageway”
Late 18th–Early 19th Century
French/Medical Latin
ostéoporose
“a medical term for porous, weakened bone”
19th Century
English
osteoporosis
“a condition of porous, fragile bones”
Modern English
English
osteoporosis
“the disease characterized by loss of bone density and increased fracture risk”