Standard Lemma guide

beriberi

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

An ailment caused by a deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1), leading to lethargy and organ complications.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

avitaminosis caused by lack of thiamine (vitamin B1)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: avitaminosis, hypovitaminosis

Narrower terms: kakke disease

History

Etymology

Possibly borrowed from Sinhalese phrase බැරි බැරි (bæri bæri, “I cannot, I cannot”) due to weakness.

Across languages

Translations

44 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: բերի-բերի (beri-beri) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Azerbaijani: beri-beri — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Belarusian: бе́ры-бе́ры (bjéry-bjéry) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Bengali: বেরিবেরি (beriberi) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Bulgarian: бери-бери (beri-beri) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Burmese: ထုံနာစို (htumnacui) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Catalan: beri-beri — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Chinese Cantonese: 腳氣病 /脚气病 (goek3 hei3 beng6) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Chinese: 腳氣病 /脚气病 (kha-khì-pēn) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Chinese Mandarin: 腳氣病 /脚气病 (jiǎoqìbìng) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Chinese Mandarin: 軟腳 /软脚 (ruǎnjiǎo) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Chinese Mandarin: 軟腳病 /软脚病 (ruǎnjiǎobìng) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Danish: beriberi — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Dutch: beriberi — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Dutch: rijstziekte — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Esperanto: beribero — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Finnish: beriberi — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • French: béribéri — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Georgian: ბერი-ბერი (beri-beri) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • German: Beriberi — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Greek: μπέρι μπέρι (béri béri) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Hindi: बेरीबेरी (berīberī) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Ido: beriberio — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Indonesian: beri-beri — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Japanese: 脚気 (kakke) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Kazakh: бери-бери (beri-beri) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Korean: 각기병 (gakgibyeong) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Macedonian: бери-бери (beri-beri) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Odia: ବେରିବେରି (beriberi) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Polish: beri-beri — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Portuguese: beribéri — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Russian: бе́ри-бе́ри (béri-béri) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Serbo-Croatian: берибѐри — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Serbo-Croatian: beribèri — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Spanish: beriberi — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Swedish: beriberi — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Tagalog: pamamanas — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Tajik: бе́ри-бе́ри (bér-i-bér-i) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Tamil: பெரிபெரி (periperi) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Telugu: బెరిబెరి (beriberi) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Thai: โรคเหน็บชา (rôhk nèp chaa) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Ukrainian: бері-бері (beri-beri) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Uzbek: бери-бери (beri-beri) — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B
  • Uzbek: beri-beri — pathology: ailment caused by deficiency of vitamin B