Mastitises

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Inflammations of the mammary gland typically occurring in mammals and commonly associated with infection or injury ; diseases causing swelling and tenderness in the milk-producing tissues of animals ; conditions characterized by painful inflammation often related to bacterial invasion in the breasts
2. Disorders affecting the breast tissue in animals, marked by redness, heat, and discomfort, often due to infectious agents ; pathological states involving the inflammation of milk ducts and surrounding tissues in mammals ; ailments causing swelling and soreness in the mammary glands linked to bacterial or physical causes
3. Inflammatory ailments targeting the mammary glands in mammals, often resulting in pain and impaired function ; infections or injuries causing the enlargement and sensitivity of breast tissue ; medical conditions involving the irritation and swelling of milk-secreting regions in animals

Etymology: "Mastitises" is simply the plural of "mastitis," the noun for inflammation of the breast or udder, usually caused by bacterial infection. The singular is the more interesting part of the story: it was formed in French as "mastite," built from a Greek-derived first element meaning "breast" (as in "mast-") and the medical suffix "-itis," which marks inflammation. English took the term from French, so the word is a modern scientific coinage made from classical building blocks rather than a term the ancient Greeks or Romans used. Its plural follows the usual pattern for English words ending in "-is," which take "-es" (as in "crisis" and "crises"), though the plural form "mastitises" is the one used in technical writing about multiple cases.

Synonyms: breast inflammations, mastitis cases