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atony - 5 dictionary results

at⋅o⋅ny

  [at-n-ee]
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–noun
1. Pathology. lack of tone or energy; muscular weakness, esp. in a contractile organ.
2. Phonetics. lack of stress accent.
Also, a⋅to⋅ni⋅a  [uh-toh-nee-uh, ey-toh-] .

Origin:
1685–95; < LL atonia < Gk, deriv. of átonos unaccented, languid, lit., toneless. See a- 6 , tone
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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at·o·ny   (āt'ə-nē, āt'n-ē)   
n.  
  1. Lack of normal muscle tone.
  2. Lack of accent or stress.

[Late Latin atonia, from Greek atoniā, from atonos, slack : a-, without; see a-1 + tonos, stretching, tone; see tone.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Atony

At"o*ny\, n. [Gr. ? slackness; 'a priv. + ? tone, strength, ? to stretch: cf. F. atonie.] (Med.) Want of tone; weakness of the system, or of any organ, especially of such as are contractile.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Main Entry: at·o·ny
Pronunciation: 'at-&n-E
Variant: or ato·nia /(')A-'tO-nE-&/
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -nies or -ni·as
: lack of physiological tone especially of a contractile organ
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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atony at·o·ny (āt'ə-nē, āt'n-ē) or a·to·ni·a (ā-tō'nē-ə)
n.
Lack of normal tone or tension; flaccidity.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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