symptom
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (2)symptoms
- (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular diseaseType of evidence, groundsKinds pain, diarrhea, ketonemia, scar, atrophy, fever, abscess, swelling, chill, nausea +96 morePart of disease
- anything that accompanies X and is regarded as an indication of X's existenceType of indication, indicant
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: F. symptôme, Gr. … anything that has befallen one, a chance, causality, symptom, fr. … to fall together; σύν with + … to fall; akin to Skr. pat to fly, to fall. See Syn-, and cf. Asymptote, Feather.
1. Medicine Any affection which accompanies disease; a perceptible change in the body or its functions, which indicates disease, or the kind or phases of disease; as, the causes of disease often lie beyond our sight, but we learn their nature by the symptoms exhibited.
Like the sick man, we are expiring with all sorts of good symptoms.— Jonathan Swift
2. A sign or token; that which indicates the existence of something else; as, corruption in elections is a symptom of the decay of public virtue.
Synonyms: Mark; note; sign; token; indication.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54