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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary at·ro·phy \\ˈa-trə-fē\\ noun ( plural -phies) ETYMOLOGY Late Latin atrophia, from Greek, from atrophos ill fed, from a- + trephein to nourish
DATE 1601
1. decrease in size or wasting away of a body part or tissue; also : arrested development or loss of a part or organ incidental to the normal development or life of an animal or plant2. a wasting away or progressive decline : degeneration the atrophy of freedom was not a solitude of atrophy, of negation, but of perpetual flowering — Willa Cather• atro·phic \\(ˌ)ā-ˈtrō-fik\\ adjective• atrophy \\ˈa-trə-fē, -ˌfī\\ verb
atrophy
"wasting away through lack of nourishment," 1590s (implied in atrophied), from Fr. atrophie, from L.L. atrophia, from Gk. atrophia "a wasting away," noun of state from atrophos "ill-fed, un-nourished," from a- "not" + trophe "nourishment," from trephein "to fatten." Atrophic is recorded from 1865.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 atrophy
at·ro·phy / 5AtrEfi / noun[U]
(medical 医) the condition of losing flesh, muscle, strength, etc. in a part of the body because it does not have enough blood
萎缩；衰退
(figurative, formal) The cultural life of the country will sink into atrophy unless more writers and artists emerge.
如果没有更多的作家和艺术家出现,这个国家的文化生活将衰退。 verb(at·ro·phies, at·ro·phy·ing, at·ro·phied, at·ro·phied)
[V] if a part of the body atrophies, it becomes weak because it is not used or because it does not have enough blood
萎缩；衰退
(figurative) Memory can atrophy through lack of use.
记忆力不常使用就会衰退。
• at·ro·phied adj.:
atrophied muscles
萎缩的肌肉
atrophied religious values
淡化的宗教价值观念
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged at·ro·phyI. \ˈa.trəfē, -fi\ noun( -es) Etymology: Late Latin atrophia, from Greek, from atrophos ill fed (from a- a- (II) + trophos feeder, from trephein to nourish, curdle) + -ia -y; akin to Greek thremma nursling, trophis fat, thrombos clot, curd, and perhaps to Sanskrit drapsa drop 1. : decrease in size of a part or tissue after full development has been attained : a wasting away of tissue (as from disuse, old age, injury, or disease) < senile atrophy > < muscular atrophy >2. : a stoppage of development of a part or organ incidental to the normal development or life of an animal or plant often followed by diminution in size of or complete disappearance of the part or organ 3. : a wasting away or progressive decline : degeneration < the atrophy of freedom > < the atrophy of an empire >II. \-fē, -fi, -ˌfī\ verb( -ed/-ing/-es) intransitive verb: to undergo atrophy < the inactive muscles atrophied >transitive verb: to cause to undergo atrophy < disuse atrophied the arm >
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