Standard Lemma guide

idiopathy

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

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.

  • General-American: /ɪdiˈɑpəθi/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪdiˈɒpəθi/
  • rhymes with -ɒpəθi

1

noun

Meaning 1

A disease or condition arising spontaneously or having no known cause.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any disease arising from internal dysfunctions of unknown cause

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: idiopathic disease, idiopathic disorder

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: disorder, upset

History

Etymology

From Latin idiopathia, from Ancient Greek ἰδιοπάθεια (idiopátheia). By surface analysis, idio- + -pathy. First appears c. 1634, in the publications of Philiatreus (fl. 1630).

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: idiopatia — a disease having no known cause
  • French: idiopathie — a disease having no known cause
  • Galician: idiopatía — a disease having no known cause
  • Greek: ιδιοπάθεια (idiopátheia) — a disease having no known cause
  • Hungarian: idiopátia — a disease having no known cause
  • Icelandic: frumkvilli — a disease having no known cause
  • Italian: idiopatia — a disease having no known cause
  • Japanese: 特発 (tokuhatsu) — a disease having no known cause
  • Norwegian: idiopati — a disease having no known cause
  • Portuguese: idiopatia — a disease having no known cause
  • Russian: идиопатия (idiopatija) — a disease having no known cause
  • Spanish: idiopatía — a disease having no known cause