bulimia
/bjuˈlimi.ə/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.72 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A chronic eating disorder characterized by a binge-and-purge cycle: extreme overeating followed by self-induced vomiting.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Grow up, Heather, bulimia is so '87."
- "Once considered a risk only for wealthy, high-achieving teenage girls, eating disorders such as anorexia (and, more rarely, bulimia) are becoming increasingly common among children, even little boys."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws Proto-Hellenic *gʷous Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs) Ancient Greek λῑμός (līmós) Ancient Greek βούλῑμος (boúlīmos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek βουλῑμῐ́ᾱ (boulīmĭ́ā)lbor. English bulimia Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek βουλῑμῐ́ᾱ (boulīmĭ́ā, “ravenous hunger”), from βούλῑμος (boúlīmos) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā).