Tetanus

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈtɛt.ən.əs/

Definitions

1. A serious infectious bacterial disease characterized by muscle rigidity, painful spasms, and potentially fatal complications affecting the nervous system
2. An infectious disease caused by a bacterium that leads to severe muscle contractions, stiffness, and can result in life-threatening complications relating to the nervous system
3. A bacterial infection that results in painful muscle spasms and rigidity, with the potential for catastrophic effects on the nervous system

Etymology: The disease is named for a physical act: in ancient Greek, "tétanos" meant a stiffening or tautening, and it comes from "teínō", "to stretch." The sense was literal before it was medical. A body locked rigid by spasm looked, to Greek observers, like a cord pulled taut, and the name described that tension rather than any cause, since the bacterium behind the disease was unknown for centuries. The Greek noun passed into Latin as "tetanus," and English took the Latin form directly. The word's sense stayed close to its origin: it names a condition defined by rigidity and spasm, the contracted muscles that give the disease its character. The nervous-system damage that makes it dangerous is part of the same picture, since the spasms come from a toxin acting on nerves that control muscle contraction.

Synonyms: lockjaw