Standard Lemma guide

geriatrics

noun · 3 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: JH EH2 R IY0 AE1 T R IH0 K S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The branch of medicine that focuses on health promotion and the prevention and treatment of disease and disability in later life. The term itself can be distinguished from gerontology, which is the study of the aging process itself.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

plural of geriatric

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, plural

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the branch of medical science that deals with diseases and problems specific to old people

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gerontology

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: medicine, medical specialty

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γῆρας (gêras, “old age”) (see γέρων (gérōn)) + ἰατρός (iatrós, “physician”); coined in English in 1909 by Ignatz L. Nascher in the New York Medical Journal on the model of pediatrics; correct formation would be gerontiatrics. Compare gerontology.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: geriatria — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Chinese Mandarin: 老年病學 /老年病学 (lǎoniánbìngxué) — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Chinese Mandarin: 老年醫學 /老年医学 (lǎoniányīxué) — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Dutch: geriatrie — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Esperanto: geriatrio — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Esperanto: maljunulmedicino — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Finnish: geriatria — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • French: gériatrie — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • German: Geriatrie — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Greek: γηριατρική (giriatrikí) — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Hungarian: geriátria — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Indonesian: geriatri — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Irish: geiriaitric — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Italian: geriatria — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Japanese: 老人医学 (rōjinigaku) — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Korean: 노인병학 (noinbyeonghak) — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Korean: 노인의학 (noinuihak) — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Malay: geriatrik — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Polish: geriatria — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Portuguese: geriatria — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Russian: гериатри́я (geriatríja) — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Serbo-Croatian: gerijatrija — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Serbo-Croatian: геријатрија — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Spanish: geriatría — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly
  • Ukrainian: геріатрі́я (heriatríja) — branch of medicine dealing with the elderly