Standard Lemma guide

sclerosis

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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /skləˈɹəʊ.sɪs/
  • Canada, General-American: /skləˈɹoʊ.sɪs/
  • Wisconsin Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /skləˈɹəʉ.sɪs/
  • New-Zealand: /skləˈɹɐʉ.səs/
  • rhymes with -əʊsɪs
  • CMU ARPABET: S K L ER0 OW1 S AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The abnormal hardening of body tissues, such as an artery; the appearance of hardenings, indurations, lesions, nodules.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hardening, fibrosis, induration

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Inability to create change or excessive resistance to change.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

any pathological hardening or thickening of tissue

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: induration

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: pathology

Narrower terms: multiple sclerosis, MS, disseminated sclerosis, disseminated multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, arteriolosclerosis, arteriosclerosis, arterial sclerosis, hardening of the arteries, induration of the arteries, coronary-artery disease, osteosclerosis

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σκλήρωσις (sklḗrōsis, “hardening”), from σκληρόω (sklēróō, “to harden”), from σκληρός (sklērós, “hard”); by surface analysis, sclero- + -osis.

Across languages

Translations

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: تَصَلُّب (taṣallub) — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Armenian: կարծրախտ (karcraxt) — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Bulgarian: склероза (skleroza) — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Catalan: esclerosi — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Chinese Mandarin: 硬化症 (yìnghuàzhèng) — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Czech: skleróza — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Czech: kornatění — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Danish: sklerose — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Danish: sclerose — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Dutch: sclerose — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Estonian: skleroos — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Estonian: kõvastus — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Finnish: kovettuminen — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • French: sclérose — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Galician: esclerose — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Georgian: სკლეროზი (sḳlerozi) — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • German: Sklerose — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Hungarian: szklerózis — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Hungarian: elmeszesedés — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Icelandic: hersli — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Icelandic: sigg — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Italian: sclerosi — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Korean: 경화 (gyeonghwa) — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Korean: 경화증 (gyeonghwajeung) — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Latin: sclērōsis — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Latvian: skleroze — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Lithuanian: sklerozė — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Luxembourgish: Skleros — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sklerose — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sklerose — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Occitan: escleròsi — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Polish: stwardnienie — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Polish: skleroza — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Portuguese: esclerose — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Romanian: scleroză — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Russian: склеро́з (skleróz) — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Slovak: skleróza — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Slovak: skostnatenie — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Spanish: esclerosis — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Swedish: skleros — abnormal hardening of body tissues
  • Turkish: skleroz — abnormal hardening of body tissues
Real reading context

sclerosis in complete knowledge articles