peritonitis
- noun
- /ˌpɛrɪtəˈnaɪtɪs/
- Specialized
- She has acute peritonitis, and there's a foreign object.
- bacterial peritonitis
- spontaneous bacterial peritonitis
- infectious peritonitis
Examples
-
Death ensues most often after intestinal perforation and peritonitis, sometimes after nervous system involvement.
Academic text (2007) -
I had a friend at summer camp who almost died of peritonitis when his appendix burst.
Fiction book (2000) -
So now maybe she has peritonitis.
Fiction book (1995) -
He almost died of peritonitis and he was really ill, seriously ill.
-
After a silence, Sebastian says, "What's acute peritonitis?"
Fiction book (1991) -
Chest pain, hypotension, peritonitis, and fever are strongly indicative of visceral perforation.
Academic text (2007) -
After undergoing surgery, she developed peritonitis due to an infection in her abdomen.
-
The doctor explained that peritonitis can cause severe abdominal pain and fever.
-
If left untreated, peritonitis can lead to serious complications and may be life-threatening.
Synonyms
A painful swelling of the thin lining inside the belly covering the organs
Surface Forms
Morphology
peritonitis = peritoneum (transparent) = peritoneum + itis
Formed by the medical noun 'peritoneum' plus the medical suffix 'itis' indicating inflammation, so the meaning is directly derived.
Etymology
Peritonitis comes from Greek parts: peri- meaning 'around', as in perimeter, and -itis meaning 'inflammation', as in tonsillitis. It refers to inflammation of the peritoneum, the 'lining' that wraps around the belly, so peritonitis is an inflammation of that abdominal lining and a serious infection.