Hyperthermia

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌhaɪpə(ɹ)ˈθɜː(ɹ)miə/

Definitions

1. A medical condition marked by an elevated body temperature resulting from environmental exposure or excessive physical exertion
2. This phenomenon indicates an abnormal increase in body heat due to external conditions or strenuous activities
3. A health issue characterized by an abnormally high body temperature caused by external heat sources or intense physical activity

Etymology: Hyperthermia is a modern scientific coinage, built in New Latin from two Ancient Greek elements: "hupér," meaning "over," and "thérmē," meaning "heat," with the suffix "-ía" that turns the pair into a noun for a condition. Ancient Greek physicians had words for fevers and heat, but nobody in antiquity used this term, so the word is best understood as a deliberate construction by later medical writers who reached back to classical roots for precise new names. The result is a word whose parts are transparent: "hyper-" signals excess, "therm" signals heat, and "-ia" marks a state or condition. That is why the term reads so plainly, and why it sits comfortably alongside relatives such as "hypothermia," which uses the opposite prefix "hypo-" meaning "under" to describe a dangerously low body temperature.

Synonyms: overheating, fever

Antonyms: hypothermia