Morbidities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Conditions that indicate the presence of disease or illness; aspects or characteristics related to the pathological state of health; factors or variables that contribute to an unhealthy condition or affliction
2. Health issues or diseases that adversely affect quality of life; the various aspects associated with illness in a patient; elements contributing to a higher frequency of health complications
3. Aspects of health that are abnormal or indicative of disease; characteristics pertaining to medical conditions impacting well-being; variables identified with increased risks of illness or health deterioration

Etymology: "Morbidities" is simply the plural of "morbidity", so it names several distinct medical conditions or risk factors at once, such as the chronic illnesses a patient already has. The singular "morbidity" has been recorded in English since 1721, and it comes from "morbid" plus the suffix "-ity", which forms nouns of state or quality. "Morbid" itself comes from Latin "morbidus", meaning "diseased", which derives from "morbus", "disease". That Latin root is usually connected with "morī", "to die", though some scholars link it to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to rub, pound, wear away". The original sense was plainly about sickness, which explains why a term that now also suggests gloomy fascination with death still keeps its clinical meaning in medicine.