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Glite Dictionary
🦵 Affecting many joints 🤖 Having many joints
polyarticular

polyarticular

9.1
Affecting many joints at the same time
  • adjective
  • /ˌpɒliɑːrˈtɪkjʊlər/
  • Specialized
: poliarticular
  • The patient's condition was classified as polyarticular because it affected multiple joints simultaneously.

Examples

  • The arthritis was polyarticular in six patients, systemic in five, and oligoarticular in two.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Doctors often see polyarticular arthritis in patients who have widespread joint pain and inflammation.

  • In a study, 30% of the participants had a polyarticular form of rheumatism that impacted several joints.

Surface Forms

polyarticular positive

Morphology

polyarticular = articular (transparent) = poly + articular

The meaning is a straightforward combination of poly- 'many' and articular 'relating to joints'.

Etymology

Polyarticular starts with poly- meaning 'many' (as in polygon) and ends with articular, which means 'joint' (like articulation). So polyarticular describes a condition that involves 'many joints', for example several body joints in arthritis.