Hypertext Webster Gateway: "rheumatism"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Rheumatism \Rheu"ma*tism\, n. [L. rheumatismus rheum, Gr. ????,
fr.??? to have or suffer from a flux, fr. ??? rheum: cf. F.
rheumatisme. See {2d Rheum}.] (Med.)
A general disease characterized by painful, often multiple,
local inflammations, usually affecting the joints and
muscles, but also extending sometimes to the deeper organs,
as the heart.
{Inflammatory rheumatism} (Med.), acute rheumatism attended
with fever, and attacking usually the larger joints, which
become swollen, hot, and very painful.
{Rheumatism root}. (Bot.) See {Twinleaf}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
rheumatism
n 1: any painful disorder of the joints or muscles or connective
tissues
2: a chronic autoimmune disease with inflammation of the joints
and marked deformities; something (possibly a virus)
triggers an attack on the synovium by the immune system,
which releases cytokines that stimulate an inflammatory
reaction that can lead to the destruction of all
components of the joint [syn: {rheumatoid arthritis}, {atrophic
arthritis}]
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