pellagra

[ puh-lag-ruh, -ley-gruh, -lah- ]

nounPathology.
  1. a disease caused by a deficiency of niacin in the diet, characterized by skin changes, severe nerve dysfunction, mental symptoms, and diarrhea.

Origin of pellagra

1
1805–15; <Italian <New Latin: skin disease, equivalent to pell(is) skin + -agra<Greek ágra seizure

Other words from pellagra

  • pel·la·grose, pel·la·grous, adjective

Words Nearby pellagra

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pellagra in a sentence

  • The Italian disease, pellagra, manifests the features one would expect from an improper food taken under unhygienic conditions.

    Degeneracy | Eugene S. Talbot
  • Usually, where a mixed diet with meat is possible, pellagra never appears.

    Rural Hygiene | Henry N. Ogden
  • The firm quotes but one paper (which is a very uncritical report) in regard to pellagra.

  • (c) Arrange a well balanced diet for pellagra in which forty grams of protein shall come from milk, meat or eggs.

    Dietetics for Nurses | Fairfax T. Proudfit
  • The accumulated evidence is increasingly opposed to Sambon's hypothesis of the transmission of pellagra by Simulium.

    Handbook of Medical Entomology | William Albert Riley

British Dictionary definitions for pellagra

pellagra

/ (pəˈleɪɡrə, -ˈlæ-) /


noun
  1. pathol a disease caused by a dietary deficiency of nicotinic acid, characterized by burning or itching often followed by scaling of the skin, inflammation of the mouth, diarrhoea, mental impairment, etc

Origin of pellagra

1
C19: via Italian from pelle skin + -agra, from Greek agra paroxysm

Derived forms of pellagra

  • pellagrous, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for pellagra

pellagra

[ pə-lăgrə, -lāgrə ]


  1. A disease caused by a lack of niacin in the diet, characterized by skin and digestive disorders and mental deterioration.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.