Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Stenosis
/stɪˈnoʊsɪs/noun
An abnormal narrowing of a passage in the body, such as a heart valve or the spinal canal.
The Greek roots
στενός
stenós
narrow, tight
-ωσις
-ōsis
condition, process
Literally: “a narrowing”
The story of the word
στένωσις is simply a narrowing, and medicine applies it wherever a channel closes down: a valve that will not open, an artery furred up, a spinal canal squeezing the cord until walking hurts. The same στενός sits in stenography, writing packed close, which is what shorthand does to a page. Aortic stenosis is now the commonest reason for replacing a heart valve in Europe.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Modern Latin → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
stenographystenotype
In a sentence
The scan showed stenosis at two levels of the lumbar spine.
Severe stenosis makes the murmur harsh and late.