n. Any of several inflammatory disorders of the intestines, especially the colon, characterized by abdominal pain, fever, and severe diarrhea often with blood and mucus in the stool, usually caused by infection with bacteria or parasitic protozoans. [Middle English dissenterie, from Old French, from Latin dysenteria, from Greek dusenteriā : dus-, dys- + enteron, intestine; see en in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] dys′en·teric adj. |
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