constipation

constipation
\ \ [15] Latin constīpātiō originally meant ‘condition of being closely packed or compressed’. Its English descendant constipation was briefly used in that literal sense in the 17th and 18th centuries, but for the most part it has been a medical term: at first for constriction of some internal organ, blood vessel, etc, and from the mid-16th century for impaired bowel function. The Latin past participle constīpātus passed into Old French as costive, which English acquired, via an unrecorded Anglo-Norman *costif ‘constipated’ [14].
\ \ Cf.⇒ COSTIVE, STEVEDORE, STIFF

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • constipation — [ kɔ̃stipasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • fin XIIIe; de constiper ♦ Difficulté dans l évacuation des selles. Laxatif contre la constipation. Constipation chronique. ⊗ CONTR. Diarrhée. ● constipation nom féminin (latin constipatio, onis) Rareté ou difficulté de l… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Constipation — Con sti*pa tion, n. [L. constipatio a crowding together: cf. F. constipation.] 1. Act of crowding anything into a less compass, or the state of being crowded or pressed together; condensation. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Fullness of matter, or a pretty …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • constipation — CONSTIPATION. subs. fém. État de celui qui est constipé. Une si longue constipation est dangereuse …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • constipation — Constipation. sub. f. v. Estat de celuy qui est constipé. Une si longue constipation est dangereuse …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • constipation — [kän΄stə pā′shən] n. [ME constipacioun < OFr constipation < L constipatio: see CONSTIPATE] a condition in which the feces are hard and elimination from the bowels is infrequent and difficult …   English World dictionary

  • Constipation — (v. lat. Constipatio alvi), Hartleibigkeit, Verstopfung; daher Constipirende Mittel u. Stoffe (Constipantia), Arzneien od. Nahrungsmittel, welche den Durchlauf hemmen u. Hartleibigkeit bewirken; Constipirt, verstopft, hartleibig …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Constipation — Constipation, lat., Verstopfung des Stuhlganges; constipirende Mittel, solche, welche C. verursachen …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • constipation — CONSTIPATION: Tous les gens de lettres sont constipés. Influe sur les convictions politiques …   Dictionnaire des idées reçues

  • constipation — (n.) c.1400, constriction of tissue, from L.L. constipationem (nom. constipatio), noun of state from L. constipare to press or crowd together, from com together (see COM (Cf. com )) + stipare to cram, pack (see STIFF (Cf. stiff) (adj.)). Specif …   Etymology dictionary

  • constipation — ► NOUN ▪ a difficulty in emptying the bowels, associated with hardened faeces …   English terms dictionary

  • Constipation — in a young child as seen by X ray. Circles represent areas of fecal matter (stool is opaque white surrounded by black bowel gas) …   Wikipedia

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