noun
- a dilated formation or part.
- Pathology. an abnormal enlargement of an aperture or a canal of the body.
- Surgery.
- an enlargement made in a body aperture or canal for surgical or medical treatment.
- a restoration to normal patency of an abnormally small body opening or passageway, as of the anus or esophagus.
- Mechanics. the increase in volume per unit volume of a homogeneous substance.
c.1400, from Old French dilatation, from Late Latin dilatationem (nominative dilatatio) “a widening,” from past participle stem of Latin dilatare (see dilate).
n.
- Physiological, pathological, or artificial enlargement of a cavity, canal, blood vessel, or opening.