1. a disease or condition that arises spontaneously or from an unknown cause, with no identifiable external cause
Usage: medical term; often used in medical diagnosis when the underlying cause cannot be determined

Examples

• The patient was diagnosed with idiopathy after extensive testing revealed no obvious cause for the symptoms.
• Idiopathy can be frustrating for doctors because treatment must focus on managing symptoms rather than addressing a root cause.
• Many cases of pulmonary fibrosis are classified as idiopathy when no environmental or genetic factors can be identified.
• The neurologist explained that the tremors appeared to be idiopathy, meaning they had no clear underlying cause.
• Researchers continue to study idiopathy in hopes of discovering hidden causes of common diseases.