Chlorosis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. a condition of plants characterized by yellowing or paleness of leaves due to insufficient chlorophyll production or iron deficiency
2. a disease affecting plants wherein foliage becomes abnormally pale or yellow because of reduced pigment formation or nutrient lack
3. a plant disorder marked by the discoloration of leaves toward yellow or white tones resulting from chlorophyll deficiency or mineral imbalance
4. a condition in plants marked by yellowing of leaves due to insufficient chlorophyll production or nutrient deficiency
5. yellowing of plant foliage resulting from defective chlorophyll formation or iron deficiency in the soil

Etymology: Chlorosis was coined as a medical term in New Latin, built from "chlor-", a combining form meaning pale yellow-green, and "-osis", the suffix used in Greek-derived medical words for an abnormal condition. The Greek-looking "chlor-" misleads many readers, who assume it has something to do with chlorine. It does not. Chlorine was named only in the early 1800s, from the same Greek adjective "khlōros" for its greenish-yellow colour, so the two words share a root but not a meaning. The word was adopted into English as a term for the wilting, yellowing of plant leaves, typically when a plant lacks chlorophyll, the green pigment that drives photosynthesis. Its earlier and more familiar sense was a disorder of young women, the "green sickness", whose pale complexion was thought to be the mark of the same ailment.

Synonyms: leaf yellowing, iron deficiency, yellowing