tenesmus

English

Etymology

Borrowing from Medieval Latin tēnesmus, from Ancient Greek τεινεσμός (teinesmós, “vain endeavor to evacuate”), from τείνω (teínō, “to stretch, to pull tight”) +‎ -εσμός (-esmós, nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɪˈnɛz.məs/

Noun

tenesmus (countable and uncountable, plural tenesmuses)

1. (medicine) A continual or recurrent but ineffectual inclination to evacuate the bowels, caused by disorder of the rectum or other illness.
   • 1790, William Bligh, A Narrative of the Mutiny:

     The general complaints of disease among us, were a dizziness in the head, great weakness of the joints, and violent tenesmus, most of us having had no evacuation by stool since we left the ship.

Derived terms

• tenesmic

Translations

inclination to evacuate the bowels

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 裡急後重／里急后重 (zh) (lǐjíhòuzhòng)

• Portuguese: tenesmo m

References

• “tenesmus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “tenesmus”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• muteness

Latin

Etymology

Borrowing from Ancient Greek τεινεσμός (teinesmós, “vain endeavor to evacuate”), from τείνω (teínō, “to stretch, to pull tight”) +‎ -εσμός (-esmós, nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /teːˈnes.mus/, [t̪eːˈnɛs̠mʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /teˈnes.mus/, [t̪eˈnɛzmus]

Noun

tēnesmus m (genitive tēnesmī); second declension (Medieval Latin)

1. (medicine) tenesmus

Inflection

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	tēnesmus	tēnesmī
Genitive	tēnesmī	tēnesmōrum
Dative	tēnesmō	tēnesmīs
Accusative	tēnesmum	tēnesmōs
Ablative	tēnesmō	tēnesmīs
Vocative	tēnesme	tēnesmī

Descendants

Descendants of tēnesmus in other languages

• → English: tenesmus
• → Italian: tenesmo
• → Portuguese: tenesmo