alopecia

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The Word of the Day for February 28 is:

alopecia   \al-uh-PEE-shuh\   noun
     : loss of hair, wool, or feathers : baldness

Example sentence: 
     My cousin Amelia recently donated ten inches of her hair to an 
organization that makes wigs for children who suffer from alopecia.

Did you know?
     Doctors use "alopecia" to refer to various forms of hair loss, including 
"alopecia areata," a sudden loss of hair in patches that involves little or no 
inflammation. It may surprise you to learn that the word ultimately derives 
from "alopex," the Greek word for "fox," but the connection makes sense if you 
think of a fox who is afflicted with mange, a disease with symptoms that 
include, among other things, loss of hair. Middle English speakers borrowed the 
Latin word "alopecia," which comes from "alopekia," a Greek term that can be 
translated as "mange on foxes."





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