See Also: addle(medicine)
addle(1)(dictionary)
addle(2)(dictionary)
addle(dictionary)

prematurity (iou) and addle (medicine)


prematurity (iou)



prematurity noun. E17.
[from PRE- 1 + MATURITY, after French prematurite.]
Early ripening or flowering in a plant. E17-E18.
Undue earliness or haste; hastiness, precipitancy. E18.
J. S. Bristowe Their early sickliness and prematurity of death.
Early development, esp. of mental or physical faculties; precociousness. L18.
Medicine. The fact or condition of giving birth to a premature infant. L19.

addle (medicine)


addle


1. To earn by labour.

2. To thrive or grow; to ripen. "Kill ivy, else tree will addle no more." (Tusser)

Origin: OE. Adlen, adilen, to gain, acquire; prob. Fr. Icel. Oolask to acquire property, akin to ooal property. Cf. Allodial.

Having lost the power of development, and become rotten, as eggs; putrid. Hence: Unfruitful or confused, as brains; muddled.

Source: Websters Dictionary