osteopetrosisn.
/ˌɒstɪəʊpᵻˈtrəʊsɪs/, U.S. /ˈˌɑstioʊpəˈtroʊsəs/ Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.
Any of a group of inherited disorders (in humans and other mammals) characterized by thickening of the bones due to defective bone resorption by osteoclasts. Also: a proliferative bone disorder caused by retroviral infection (avian leukosis complex) in birds. Cf. Albers-Schönberg n., marble bone n. at marble n. and adj. Compounds 2.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders of bones > [noun] > hardening
osteosclerosis1841
marble bone1922
osteopetrosis1926
1926 R. G. Karshner in Amer. Jrnl. Roentgenol. 16 405/1 Osteopetrosis is an hereditary disease.
1926 R. G. Karshner in Amer. Jrnl. Roentgenol. 16 405/2 The term osteopetrosis (stony bones) is chosen because in one word it describes the primary pathological condition, bone petrifaction.
1948 Jrnl. Exper. Med. 88 579 (heading) Hereditary osteopetrosis of the rabbit.
1961 R. D. Baker Essent. Pathol. xxi. 560 In osteopetrosis (Albers–Schönberg's disease; marble bones) the bones are abnormally hard and thick, but also easily fractured.
1979 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 8 Nov. 5/1 Three of the Casino children were born with what the Ontario Society for Crippled Children and the medical profession say is an ‘extremely rare’ disease—osteopetrosis, commonly known as marble bones or ivory bones.
1983 Virology 129 493 Avian osteopetrosis is a proliferative bone disorder initiated at high frequency by MAV-2(O), a subgroup B avian myeloblastosis-associated virus.
2000 Jrnl. Cellular Biochem. 77 103 The mammalian osteopetroses represent a pathogenetically diverse group of skeletal disorders characterized by excess bone mass resulting from reduced osteoclastic bone resorption.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1926