Chronic disease, one which is inveterate, of long continuance, or progresses slowly, in distinction from an acute disease, which speedly terminates.

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

chronic, adj.
1 persisting for a long time (usu. of an illness or a personal or social problem).
2 having a chronic complaint.
3 colloq. disp. habitual, inveterate (a chronic liar).
4 Brit. colloq. very bad; intense, severe.

Derivative

chronically adv. chronicity n.

Etymology

F chronique f. L chronicus (in LL of disease) f. Gk khronikos f. khronos time

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THESAURUS

chronic

abiding, accepted, accustomed, age-long, aged, ancient, antique, confirmed, constant, continuing, customary, deep-dyed, deep-fixed, deep-rooted, deep-seated, deep-set, deep-settled, diuturnal, durable, dyed-in-the-wool, enduring, established, evergreen, fast, fixed, habitual, habituated, hardened, hardy, immutable, implanted, incorrigible, inculcated, infixed, ingrained, instilled, intransient, inveterate, irreversible, lasting, lingering, long-established, long-lasting, long-lived, long-standing, long-term, longeval, longevous, macrobiotic, of long duration, of long standing, perdurable, perduring, perennial, permanent, perpetual, persistent, persisting, remaining, rooted, routine, sempervirent, set, settled, settled in habit, stable, staying, steadfast, thorough, tough, unfading, vital, wonted

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ROGET THESAURUS

chronic

Diuturnity

N diuturnity, a long time, a length of time, an age, a century, an eternity, slowness, perpetuity, blue moon, coon's age, dog's age, durableness, durability, persistence, endlessness, lastingness, continuance, standing, permanence, survival, survivance, longevity, distance of time, protraction of time, prolongation of time, extension of time, delay, durable, lasting, of long duration, of long-standing, permanent, endless, chronic, long-standing, intransient, intransitive, intransmutable, persistent, lifelong, livelong, longeval, long-lived, macrobiotic, diuturnal, evergreen, perennial, sempervirent, sempervirid, unrelenting, unintermitting, unremitting, perpetual, lingering, protracted, prolonged, spun out, long-pending, long-winded, slow, long, for a long time, for an age, for ages, for ever so long, for many a long day, long ago, longo intervallo, all the day long, all the year round, the livelong day, as the day is long, morning noon and night, hour after hour, day after day, for good, permanently.

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