Pathology · Pathology · Hard

Sclerosis

Meaning: Abnormal hardening of tissue, often a blood vessel or nerve sheath.

In practice: Multiple sclerosis hardens and scars the myelin sheath around nerves.

Word parts

  • -osis means an abnormal condition or process

Many medical words are built from Greek and Latin parts like these, so learning a few helps you work out new terms.

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Which word means: Germ cell tumour containing tissue from all three embryonic layers, such as hair, fat and teeth.

Which word means: Small pouch of mucosa pushing through a weak point in the gut wall, usually the colon.

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Related words

More pathology terms · All medical words