Keratitides

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An inflammatory condition affecting the cornea, causing pain and visual disturbance
2. a term used to describe various forms of keratitis, reflecting different underlying triggers
3. a medical term encapsulating several corneal inflammations often resulting from infections or other irritants

Etymology: Keratitides is the plural of keratitis, and the key to its make-up is the Greek word "kéras", meaning horn. The inflammation was named for the cornea, the clear dome at the front of the eye, which is tough and horn-like in texture. The Greek stem "kérat-" gives the first half of the word, and the ending comes from French "-ite", which carries the sense of "-itis" as in inflammation of a body part. The term probably reached English by way of French "kératite", a formation built from those Greek and French pieces. Because it was coined from classical roots rather than arising in everyday speech, the name reads as a deliberate medical label. Its plural, keratitides, follows the Greek-style pattern found in other medical terms, where the "-itis" ending changes to "-itides" when more than one case is meant.