Standard Lemma guide

hypertrophy

noun · verb · 6 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /haɪˈpɜː.tɹə.fi/
  • US: /haɪˈpɜɹ.tɹə.fi/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AY1 P ER0 T R OW2 F IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An increase in the size of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement of its individual cells.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: atrophy, hypotrophy, hyperplasia

2

noun

Meaning 2

An increase in the size of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement of its individual cells.

Increase in muscle size through increased size of individual muscle cells; a result of weightlifting, and other exercise. It differs from muscle hyperplasia, which is the formation of new muscle cells.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: bodybuilding, hobbies, lifestyle, medicine, sciences, sports

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: atrophy, hypotrophy, hyperplasia

3

verb

Meaning 3

Of a tissue or organ, to increase in size.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: atrophy

4

verb

Meaning 4

To enlarge or extend.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: atrophy

5

noun

Meaning 5

abnormal enlargement of a body part or organ

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dysplasia

Narrower terms: adenomegaly, cor pulmonale, dactylomegaly, elephantiasis, splenomegaly, giantism, gigantism, overgrowth, acromegaly, acromegalia

6

verb

Meaning 6

undergo hypertrophy

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • muscles can hypertrophy when people take steroids

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: grow

History

Etymology

From French hypertrophie, from Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, “over, excessive”) + τροφή (trophḗ, “nourishment”), equivalent to hyper- + -trophy.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: hipertròfia — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Chinese Mandarin: 肥大 (féidà) — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Dutch: hypertrofie — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Esperanto: hipertrofio — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Finnish: hypertrofia — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • French: hypertrophie — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • German: Hypertrophie — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Greek: υπερτροφία (ypertrofía) — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Indonesian: hipertrofi — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Irish: hipeartrófacht — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Italian: ipertrofia — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Japanese: 肥大 (hidai) — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Korean: 비대 (bidae) — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Latin: hypertrophia — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Macedonian: хипертрофија (hipertrofija) — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hypertrofi — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Polish: hipertrofia — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Polish: przerost — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Portuguese: hipertrofia — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Romanian: hipertrofie — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Russian: гипертрофи́я (gipertrofíja) — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Serbo-Croatian: хипертро̀фија — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Serbo-Croatian: hipertròfija — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Spanish: hipertrofia — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Swedish: hypertrofi — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Vietnamese: sự nở to — increase in the size due to cell enlargement
  • Catalan: hipertrofiar — to increase in size
  • French: s’hypertrophier — to increase in size
  • German: hypertrophieren — to increase in size
  • Greek: υπερτροφώ (ypertrofó) — to increase in size
  • Greek: αυξάνω (afxáno) — to increase in size
  • Japanese: 肥大する (hidai suru) — to increase in size
  • Portuguese: hipertrofiar — to increase in size
  • Romanian: hipertrofia — to increase in size
  • Serbo-Croatian: hipertròfija — to increase in size
  • Spanish: hipertrofiarse — to increase in size
Real reading context

hypertrophy in complete knowledge articles