a disorder, formerly common in adolescent girls, characterized by pale greenish-yellow skin, weakness, and palpitation and caused by insufficient iron in the body
2. botany
a deficiency of chlorophyll in green plants caused by mineral deficiency, lack of light, disease, etc, the leaves appearing uncharacteristically pale
Derived forms
chlorotic (klɔːˈrɒtɪk)
adjective
Word origin
C17: from chloro- + -osis
chlorosis in American English
(kləˈroʊsɪs)
noun
1.
an abnormal condition of plants in which the green parts lose their color or turn yellow as a result of a lack of chlorophyll production due to disease, lack of light, etc.
2.
a form of iron-deficiency anemia sometimes affecting girls at puberty and causing the skin to turn a greenish color