atrophy
noun
- partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body
verb
- become weakened
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈæt.ɹə.fi/ / /ˈɛt.ɹə.fi/
noun
Etymology: Borrowed from French atrophie, from Latin atrophia, from Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía, “a wasting away”), from ἄτροφος (átrophos, “ill-fed, un-nourished”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τροφή (trophḗ, “nourishment”), from τρέφω (tréphō, “to fatten”). Equivalent to a- + -trophy.
- A reduction in the functionality of an organ caused by disease, injury or lack of use.
“Now that chatbots are going the way of Google—moving from the miraculous to the taken-for-granted—the anxiety has shifted, too, from apocalypse to atrophy. Teachers, especially, say they’re beginning to see the rot. The term for it is unlovely but not inapt: de-skilling.”
verb
Etymology: Borrowed from French atrophie, from Latin atrophia, from Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía, “a wasting away”), from ἄτροφος (átrophos, “ill-fed, un-nourished”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τροφή (trophḗ, “nourishment”), from τρέφω (tréphō, “to fatten”). Equivalent to a- + -trophy.
- To wither or waste away.
“Boy. I love summer vacation. I can feel my brain beginning to atrophy already.”
“The M10 highway looks normal enough at the southern limits of St. Petersburg, but then, with a jolt, it begins to atrophy. For the next 430 miles the surface of the highway, while paved, varies from corduroy to jaw-rattling patchwork.”
- To cause to waste away or become abortive; to starve or weaken.
“Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion”