anorexia Hear it!

anorexia definition

ano·rex·ia (an′ə reks′ē ə)

noun

  1. lack of appetite for food
  2. an eating disorder, chiefly in young women, characterized by aversion to food and obsession with weight loss, and manifested in self-induced starvation and excessive exercise, etc.: in full anorexia ner·vo′·sa (nər vō′sə)
    cf. bulimia

Etymology: ModL < Gr < an-, without + orexis, a desire for < oregein, to reach after < IE base *reg-: see right

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.