noun
rheumatism
ROO-muh-tihz-uhm
noun
1
A general term for pain and stiffness in the joints, muscles, or connective tissue.
"Her grandmother's rheumatism flared up whenever the weather turned cold."
How to Use Rheumatism
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn older, general word for joint and muscle pain, now mostly replaced in medicine by more specific terms like arthritis.
When to use it
Mostly used in everyday or older speech rather than modern clinical writing.
Word Forms
rheumatisms plural
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Her grandmother's _____ flared up whenever the weather turned cold.
Etymology
From Greek rheumatismos ("discharge, flow"), from rheuma ("stream, flow") — reflecting the old belief that such pain was caused by fluids flowing through the body.