noun (used with a singular verb)
- the branch of medicine dealing with the diseases, debilities, and care of aged persons.
- the study of the physical processes and problems of aging; gerontology.
adjective
- of or relating to geriatrics, old age, or aged persons.
noun
- Slang. an old person.
noun
- (functioning as singular) the branch of medical science concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting older peopleCompare gerontology
adjective
- of or relating to geriatric medicine or to older people
- offensive (of people or machines) old, obsolescent, worn out, or useless
noun
- old-fashioned, offensive an elderly person
- informal, offensive an older person considered as one who may be disregarded as senile or unable to look after his or her own best interests
coined 1909 by Austrian-born doctor Ignatz L. Nascher (1863-1944) in “New York Medical Journal” on the model of pediatrics (cf. -ics), from the same elements found in geriatric (q.v.). The correct formation would be gerontiatrics.
1909, formed in English from Greek geras, geros “old age” (from PIE root *gere- “to grow old” (see gerontology) + iatrikos “of a physician,” from iatros (see -iatric).
n.
- The branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and problems specific to old age.
adj.
- Of or relating to geriatrics.
- Of or relating to old age or to the aging process.
n.
- An old person.
- The branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and conditions of the elderly.