Table of Contents
Definition of Chronic Disease
(noun) A condition or disease that is persistent in its effects; a return to pre-onset normalcy is the exception.
Examples of Chronic Disease
Chronic Disease Pronunciation
Syllabification: chron·ic dis·ease
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /krAHn-ik di-zEEz/
- British English – /krOn-ik di-zEEz/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈkrɑnɪk dɪˈziz/
- British English – /ˈkrɒnɪk dɪˈziːz/
Usage Notes
- Plural: chronic diseases
- Chronic disease is contrasted to acute disease.
Additional Information
- Medical Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “chronic” and “disease” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Dobson, Mary J. 2007. Disease: The Extraordinary Stories behind History’s Deadliest Killers. London: Quercus.
- Kerr, Anne. 2004. Genetics and Society: A Sociology of Disease. London: Routledge.
Related Terms
- acute disease
- cancer cluster
- disease
- endemic disease
- environmental racism
- epidemiology
- health
- medicalization
Works Consulted
Cockerham, William C, ed. 2010. The New Blackwell Companion to Medical Sociology. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Cockerham, William C., and Ferris Joseph Ritchey. 1997. Dictionary of Medical Sociology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Kent, Michael. 2007. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Martin, Elizabeth, ed. 2010. Concise Medical Dictionary. 8th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Chronic Disease
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “chronic disease.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 18, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/chronic-disease/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
chronic disease. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/chronic-disease/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “chronic disease.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 18, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/chronic-disease/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“chronic disease.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/chronic-disease/>.