symptom
/ˈsɪm(p)təm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.64 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A perceived change in some function, sensation or appearance of a person that indicates a disease or disorder, such as fever, headache or rash; strictly, a symptom is felt or experienced by the patient, while a sign can be detected by an observer.
noun
A signal; anything that indicates, or is characteristic of, the presence of something else, especially of something undesirable.
Example Sentences
- "The doctor told that his coughing and sneezing was the symptom of standing for too long in the rain."
- "Swollen breasts, morning sickness, and a missed period are classic symptoms of pregnancy."
- "Sometimes a change in olfactory experience is the only symptom in a patient who is otherwise healthy."
- ""Since hypertension doesn't usually cause symptoms, it flies below the radar, quietly damaging the vessels that deliver blood to your body and brain and increasing your risk of being blindsided by a heart attack or stroke.""
- "Lying, hiding one's true feelings, and having affairs are typical symptoms of a doomed marriage."
- ""Nay, nay," exclaimed Lord Norbourne, "I cannot go quite so far as that. I have, thanks to your hospitality, laid in a stock of health enough for the ensuing winter: but as to the general benevolence of which you talk, I confess I find no symptoms: if I did, they would alarm me more than those of the gout.""
Etymology
From Middle English sinthoma, from Medieval Latin sinthoma, altered by Late Latin symptoma, from Ancient Greek σύμπτωμα (súmptōma, “a happening, accident, symptom of disease”), from stem of συμπίπτω (sumpíptō, “Ι befall”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + πίπτω (píptō, “to fall”). See also syn-, -oma, -ome.
Origin
Word Breakdown
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Antonyms
Treatment of symptoms versus treatment of cause