Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A chronic disease of adults marked by enlargement of the bones of the extremities, face, and jaw that is caused by overactivity of the pituitary gland.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A disease characterized by hypertrophy of the bones and soft tissues of the face and extremities.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) Chronic enlargement of the extremities and face.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun pathology A chronic disease marked by enlargement of the bones of the extremities, face, and jaw that is caused by over-activity of the pituitary gland.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun enlargement of bones of hands and feet and face; often accompanied by headache and muscle pain and emotional disturbances; caused by overproduction of growth hormone by the anterior pituitary gland (due to a tumor)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French acromégalie : Greek akron, top, extremity (from neuter of akros, extreme; see acro–) + Greek megas, megal-, big; see meg- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French acromégalie, from New Latin acromegalia, from Ancient Greek ἄκρον (akron, "tip, extremity") and μέγας (megas, "large"). acro- + -megaly

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