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Glite Dictionary
Pott's disease

Pott's disease

1 8.4
A tuberculosis infection that destroys the bones of the spine and makes it curve
  • noun
  • /pɑts dɪˈziːz/
  • Specialized
: enfermedad de Pott
  • If left untreated, Pott's disease can cause severe deformities in the spine.

Examples

  • Pott's disease deforms the spine with a hump before paralysis.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Patients diagnosed with Pott's disease often suffer from chronic pain and difficulty moving.

  • It's important to recognize the symptoms of Pott's disease early to avoid long-term complications.

Synonyms

tuberculosis
vsPott's disease
  • Specialized
49 3.7

A serious disease that spreads between people and usually affects the lungs, causing fever and coughing

is the same infection when it attacks the spine causing vertebrae destruction
TB
vsPott's disease
  • Specialized
39 3.2

A serious disease that usually affects the lungs but can also affect other body parts

is the same disease limited to the spine causing bone loss and curvature

Surface Forms

Pott's disease singular
Pott's diseases plural

Morphology

Pott's + disease

This is an eponymic medical term named after a person (Percivall Pott); knowing 'disease' only indicates an illness but 'Pott's' gives no compositional clue to spinal tuberculosis or vertebral destruction. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not be able to infer the specific meaning (tuberculosis of the spine), so the expression is not transparently derivable from its parts.

Etymology

Pott's disease comes from an English doctor named Pott who, in the 1700s, noticed people with tuberculosis in their 'spine'. So the name now refers to 'tuberculosis of the spine'.