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Definition of diathesis in English:

diathesis

noun

  • 1Medicine
    usually with modifier A tendency to suffer from a particular medical condition.

    ‘a bleeding diathesis’
    • ‘These include arteriovenous shunts, giving rise to congestive heart failure, bleeding diathesis due to platelet consumption, and massive hemoperitoneum resulting in rupture.’
    • ‘In patients without a known allergic diathesis or infectious process, BCG without eosinophilia seems more enigmatic.’
    • ‘The 14% clinical gain observed in this study may be attributable to the expected proportion of 5-15% of H pylori positive patients with a true ulcer diathesis.’
    • ‘A lifelong bleeding diathesis may suggest a congenital platelet dysfunction, but an onset in adulthood does not necessarily exclude a congenital problem.’
    • ‘Hpylori eradication treatment, if successful, will be effective in curing the ulcer diathesis regardless of whether a patient is seen at the initial presentation of the disease or at a recurrence.’

  • 2Linguistics

    another term for voice (sense 5 of the noun)

Pronunciation

diathesis

/dīˈaTHəsəs/ /daɪˈæθəsəs/

Origin

Mid 17th century modern Latin, from Greek, ‘disposition’, from diatithenai ‘arrange’. diathesis (sense 2) dates from the mid 20th century.