pellagra
/pɪˈlaɡɹə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.85 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A disease characterised by skin lesions and mental confusion, primarily caused by a niacin deficiency.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "In 1755 the French physician Gaspar Casal (1680–1759) published an account of pellagra, then a new disease in Spain."
- "Mixing the alkali into the recipe in the right way chemically releases the otherwise unavailable niacin in the corn, which stops pellagra in its tracks, and allowed corn-based agricultural populations to grow and spread."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: pellagra, pellis, ἄγρα
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /pɪˈlaɡɹə/