Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An often fatal degenerative disease of the central nervous system occurring chiefly in young people, caused by slow infection with a measles virus and characterized by progressive loss of mental and motor functions ending in dementia and paralysis.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a rare chronic progressive encephalitis caused by the measles virus and occurring primarily in children and young adults; death usually occurs within three years; characterized by primary measles infection before the age of two years
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[sclerosing, from sclerose, to harden, back-formation from sclerosed.]
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vendingmachine commented on the word subacute sclerosing panencephalitis
SSPE. A slow virus infection of the brain caused by a defective form of the measles virus that occurs many years after meales.
April 8, 2017