Acidoses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A condition characterized by an excess of acid in the body fluids
2. A metabolic disorder where the acidity of blood or tissues increases significantly
3. A physiological imbalance resulting from the production or intake of too much acid or a decrease in alkali within the body

Etymology: "Acidoses" is the plural of "acidosis," a medical term for a condition in which the blood or body tissues become abnormally acidic. The plural ending comes from Greek. "Acidosis" is built from "acid" plus the Greek-derived suffix "-osis," which denotes an abnormal or diseased state, so the formation is a modern medical coinage rather than an ancient one. The root "acid" is far older. It descends from the Latin "acidus," meaning sour or sharp to the taste, which in turn grew from "acere," to be sharp. That Latin source passed into English through French "acide," so the word's core sense has always been about sourness. The physical taste of vinegar and lemon is the original idea that later chemistry extended into a precise measure of hydrogen ion concentration.