idiosyncrasy

idiosyncrasy
1. An individual mental, behavioral, or physical characteristic or peculiarity. 2. In pharmacology, an abnormal reaction to a drug, sometimes specified as genetically determined. [G. idiosynkrasia, fr. idios, one's own, + synkrasis, a mixing together]

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id·io·syn·cra·sy .id-ē-ə-'siŋ-krə-sē n, pl -sies
1) a peculiarity of physical or mental constitution or temperament
2) individual hypersensitiveness (as to a drug or food) <anemia accompanying the use of a sulfa drug is usually considered to be due to \idiosyncrasy>

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n.
an unusual and unexpected sensitivity exhibited by an individual to a particular drug or food. Drug idiosyncrasy commonly takes the form of undue susceptibility or hypersensitivity, so that the standard dose causes an excessive effect; the normal effect is produced by a small fraction of the standard dose.
idiosyncratic adj.

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id·io·syn·cra·sy (id″e-o-sinґkrə-se) [idio- + Gr. synkrasis mixture] 1. a habit or quality of body or mind peculiar to any individual. 2. an abnormal susceptibility to some drug, protein, or other agent which is peculiar to the individual. idiosyncratic adj

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • Idiosyncrasy — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Idiosyncrasy Información personal Origen Japón Información artística Género(s) …   Wikipedia Español

  • Idiosyncrasy — Idiosyncrasy, from Greek ιδιοσυγκρασία, idiosunkrasia , a peculiar temperament , habit of body ( idios one s own and syn krasis mixture ) is defined as an individualizing quality or characteristic of a person or group, and is often used to… …   Wikipedia

  • idiosyncrasy — [id΄ē ō siŋ′krə sē, id΄ē ōsin′krə sē] n. pl. idiosyncrasies [Gr idiosynkrasia < idio , one s own, peculiar (see IDIO ) + synkrasis, a mixing together, tempering < synkerannynai, to mix together < syn , together + kerannynai, to mix <… …   English World dictionary

  • Idiosyncrasy — Id i*o*syn cra*sy, n.; pl. {Idiosyncrasies}. [Gr. ?; i dios proper, peculiar + ? a mixing together, fr. ? to mix together; ? with + ? to mix: cf. F. idiosyncrasie. See {Idiom}, and {Crasis}.] A peculiarity of physical or mental constitution or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • idiosyncrasy — index characteristic, disposition (inclination), feature (characteristic), identity (individuality), irregularity …   Law dictionary

  • idiosyncrasy — (n.) c.1600, from Fr. idiosyncrasie, from Gk. idiosynkrasia a peculiar temperament, from idios one s own (see IDIOM (Cf. idiom)) + synkrasis temperament, mixture of personal characteristics, from syn together + krasis mixture. Originally in… …   Etymology dictionary

  • idiosyncrasy — *eccentricity Analogous words: peculiarity, individuality, distinctiveness or distinction, characteristicness or characteristic (see corresponding adjectives at CHARACTERISTIC): manner, way, *method, mode: mannerism, affectation, *pose …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • idiosyncrasy — meaning ‘an individual s particular habit or mode of behaviour’, is derived from the Greek words idio ‘own, peculiar’, sun ‘together’, and krasis ‘mixture’ and so its etymological meaning is ‘a peculiar mixing together’. It is wrong to spell it… …   Modern English usage

  • idiosyncrasy — [n] oddity, quirk affectation, bit, characteristic, distinction, eccentricity, feature, habit, mannerism, peculiarity, singularity, trait, trick; concepts 411,644 …   New thesaurus

  • idiosyncrasy — ► NOUN (pl. idiosyncrasies) 1) a way of behaving or thinking peculiar to an individual. 2) a distinctive characteristic of a thing. ORIGIN Greek idiosunkrasia, from idios own + sun with + krasis mixture …   English terms dictionary

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