Standard Lemma guide

necrobiosis

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

The normal death of cells or tissues because of age-related changes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

(physiology) the normal degeneration and death of living cells (as in various epithelial cells)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cell death

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: death

Narrower terms: apoptosis, programmed cell death, caspase-mediated cell death

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *neḱ-der. Ancient Greek νεκρός (nekrós)der. English necro- English -biosis English necrobiosis From necro- + -biosis.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: nekrobióza — normal death of cells or tissues because of age-related changes
  • Galician: necrobiose — normal death of cells or tissues because of age-related changes
  • Greek: νεκροβίωση (nekrovíosi) — normal death of cells or tissues because of age-related changes
  • Romanian: necrobioză — normal death of cells or tissues because of age-related changes