noun
- Plural of diathesis; a constitutional predisposition or tendency to develop a particular disease or condition.
- In grammar, the relationship between a verb and its subject, object, or other arguments; voice or grammatical relation.
Usage: Medical/scientific term; Often used in clinical contexts to describe inherited or acquired susceptibilities
Usage: Linguistics term; Less common in modern English; more prevalent in classical and historical linguistic analysis
Examples
- Certain diatheses for autoimmune diseases run in families.
- The patient's genetic diatheses increased her risk of developing diabetes.
- Environmental factors can activate latent diatheses.
- In classical grammar, diatheses describe how verbs relate to their subjects.
- Researchers study diatheses to understand disease vulnerability.