What does atrophy mean?
Word: Atrophy
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Atrophy means the wasting away of a part of the body, such as a muscle, so that it becomes smaller and weaker, often because it is not used.
Synonyms: wasting, withering
Word origin: From Greek atrophia, from a-, without, and trophe, food or nourishment.
How do you spell atrophy?
Syllables: at - ro - phy
Tricky part: The f sound at the end is spelt ph, as in trophy and phone, and the word finishes with a plain y.
Watch out for: atrofy, atrophey, atrophie
Memory tip: Put an a in front of trophy and you have atrophy. A trophy is something you gain; atrophy is strength you lose.
Atrophy in a sentence
Example 1: Astronauts exercise every day on the space station to slow down muscle atrophy.
Example 2: Doctors measure the thigh muscles of patients after a long stay in bed to check for atrophy.
Example 3: Grandpa squeezes a soft rubber ball every morning so that his hand muscles do not suffer atrophy.
Fun Fact
The same Greek root troph-, food, turns up in the biology word autotroph, a living thing such as a green plant that makes its own food.
Practise the CREST Way
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
ytrahpo
a) the wasting away of a body part through lack of use
b) a feeling of great happiness
c) the study of the stars and planets
d) the slow wearing away of rock by wind and water
Show answer
a) the wasting away of a body part through lack of use. Put in order, ytrahpo gives atrophy, a loss of strength in the body, not the loss of rock that erosion describes.
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) carry : carried
b) envy : envyed
c) atrophy : atrophied
d) deny : denied
Show answer
b) envy : envyed. Verbs ending in a consonant and y change the y to i before ed, so envy becomes envied.
Word Champ
Read the statements and choose the correct option:
1. Muscle atrophy is the growth of new, stronger muscle. 2. A trophy is a prize given for winning. 3. A muscle that is never used can slowly waste away.
a) only 1 is true
b) only 2 and 3 are true
c) all three are true
d) only 1 and 3 are true
Show answer
b) only 2 and 3 are true. Statement 1 has the meaning back to front: atrophy is a loss of muscle, not new growth.
Spell Probe
One word in the sentence is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word:
The physiotherapist warned that some muscle atrophy can begin within weeks if a leg in plaster is not moved, so Daniel did his exersises every day.
a) activities done to keep the body fit and strong
b) a person trained to treat injuries with movement and massage
c) the wasting away of a muscle that is not used
d) a hard white covering that holds a broken bone still
Show answer
a) activities done to keep the body fit and strong. The misspelt word is exersises: the second s sound in exercises is written with a c.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Muscle atrophy is often caused by ___.
a) eating a balanced diet
b) weeks of not using a limb
c) regular weight training
d) a daily swim in the sea
Show answer
b) weeks of not using a limb
2. If a skill atrophies, it ___.
a) passes from parent to child
b) grows stronger as you get older
c) is learnt very quickly
d) grows weaker through lack of practice
Show answer
d) grows weaker through lack of practice
