Hypovitaminosis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A health disorder characterized by a deficiency of essential vitamins in the body
2. A medical condition arising from an inadequate intake of vitamins necessary for optimal health
3. A medical state caused by the lack of necessary vitamins leading to health problems

Etymology: Hypovitaminosis is a construction built entirely from Greek-derived parts assembled for modern medical use. The first element, "hypo-", comes from the Greek "hypo", meaning "under" or "below", and is the familiar prefix in words like "hypothermia" and "hypotension". The second element, "vitamin", is itself a modern coinage: it was created in the early twentieth century by the biochemist Casimir Funk, who combined the Latin "vita" ("life") with "amine", reflecting his belief that these essential substances were nitrogen-containing. Later research showed that not all vitamins contain nitrogen, but the name stuck. The final element, "-osis", is a Greek suffix used to form nouns of state or of medical condition, as in "tuberculosis" or "osteoporosis". Joining these pieces produces a term meaning a state of being below the necessary level of vitamins. The word is a technical coinage rather than an ancient one, so it tells us how medicine came to see nutritional deficiency as a distinct disease category once vitamins themselves had been identified.