diabetes mellitus

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from New Latin diabetes mellitus (diabetes of the sweet type) (from the fact that in centuries past, physicians sometimes tasted a patient's urine to help diagnose the illness).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz/, /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtɪs/ + IPA(key): /ˌməˈlaɪtəs/, /ˈmɛlɨtəs/ (the first-listed forms of each are the ones more commonly used)
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

diabetes mellitus (uncountable)

  1. A medical disorder commonly called diabetes, characterized by varying or persistent hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels), especially after eating. It is classified in two types, which are different etiologically but similar in clinical effects: type 1 and type 2.
    Synonym: (dated) sugar diabetes
    Hyponym: gestational diabetes
    Coordinate term: diabetes insipidus
    • 2018, Isidor Segal, Digestive Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: Changes and Challenges, page 98:
      Patients initially may seek medical attention for diabetes mellitus, which becomes clinically manifest a few years after the onset of pancreatalgia.

Translations

See also

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /djaˌbetes meˈlitus/ [d̪jaˌβ̞e.t̪ez meˈli.t̪us]
  • Syllabification: dia‧be‧tes me‧lli‧tus

Noun

diabetes mellitus f (uncountable)

  1. (pathology) diabetes mellitus

Further reading