tetanus

From Latin tetanus, from Ancient Greek τέτανος (tétanos), from τείνω (teínō, “I stretch”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛtənəs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛt̚nɨs/

tetanus (usually uncountable, plural tetani)

1. (pathology, countable) A serious and often fatal disease caused by the infection of an open wound with the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani, found in soil and the intestines and faeces of animals.
2. (physiology, countable) A state of muscle tension caused by sustained contraction arising from a rapid series of nerve impulses which do not allow the muscle to relax.
   • 1998 January 16, Pierre-Marie Lledo et al., “Postsynaptic Membrane Fusion and Long-Term Potentiation”, in Science‎, volume 279, number 5349, DOI:10.1126/science.279.5349.399, pages 399-403:

     We first saturated LTP in one pathway by applying repetitive tetani that had no effect on the control pathway […]

• (disease caused by Clostridium tetani): lockjaw

• tetanal
• tetanic
• tetany
• tetanize
• tetanization
• DPT

• attunes, nutates, tautens, unstate, untaste

tetanus m

1. tetanus (pathology)

• IPA^(key): /ˈtetɑnus/, [ˈt̪e̞t̪ɑnus̠]
• Hyphenation: te‧ta‧nus

tetanus

1. (pathology) tetanus

• jäykkäkouristus

• astunet, sattuen

From Ancient Greek τέτανος (tétanos); New Latin usage specific to the bacteria-caused disease.

tetanus m (genitive tetanī); second declension

1. A stiffness or spasm of the neck; tetanus
2. (New Latin) The disease caused by Clostridium tetani.

Second-declension noun.

• tetanus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• tetanus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• tetanus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette