geriatrics

/dʒɛɹiˈætɹɪks/

geriatrics

English Noun

Definition

The branch of medicine that focuses on health promotion and the prevention and treatment of disease and disability in later life. The term itself can be distinguished from gerontology, which is the study of the aging process itself.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γῆρας (gêras, “old age”) (see γέρων (gérōn)) + ἰατρός (iatrós, “physician”); coined in English in 1909 by Ignatz L. Nascher in the New York Medical Journal on the model of pediatrics; correct formation would be gerontiatrics. Compare gerontology.