amaurosis

noun

am·au·ro·sis ˌa-mȯ-ˈrō-səs

plural amauroses ˌa-mȯ-ˈrō-ˌsēz

: partial or complete loss of sight occurring especially without an externally perceptible change in the eye

amaurotic

ˌa-mȯ-ˈrä-tik

adjective

Examples of amaurosis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web For example, Leber congenital amaurosis, a rare genetic eye disorder, isn't on the federal list even though the Food and Drug Administration approved a gene therapy for it in 2017. —

Aria Bendix, NBC News, 17 June 2023 Editas Medicine released some data on its experimental drug for Leber congenital amaurosis, an eye disorder, which indicated that out of three doses tested, two patients did not see a significant improvement in a test of functional sight, while the other patient showed some improvement. —

Trefis Team, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2021 Last week, Editas Medicine, Inc. another genome editing company based in Cambridge, enrolled the first children in a trial designed to test CRISPR editing in a hereditary cause of blindness called Leber congenital amaurosis 10. —

Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 26 June 2021 Earlier this year, OHSU treated the first patient in a clinical trial by Editas Medicine Inc., using a Crispr gene-editing therapy for the rare eye disorder Leber congenital amaurosis 10. —

Amy Dockser Marcus, WSJ, 9 Dec. 2020 Just months earlier, molecular geneticist and physician Jean Bennett and her husband, retinal surgeon Albert Maguire of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, reported that gene therapy had improved vision in a teenage boy with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). —

Jill Neimark, Discover Magazine, 25 Jan. 2010 Ferraro was born blind due to a genetic condition called Leber congenital amaurosis, or LCA. —

Michelle Bruton, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2022 Both volunteers had suffered from LCA, or Leber congenital amaurosis, a severe vision impairment. —

Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 26 Jan. 2022 In previous studies, researchers have been able to treat a genetic form of blindness called Leber congenital amaurosis, by fixing a faulty gene that would otherwise cause photoreceptors to gradually degenerate. —

BostonGlobe.com, 24 May 2021 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'amaurosis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin amaurōsis, borrowed from Greek amaúrōsis "dimming of sight, loss of sight without a visible cause," from amaurō-, variant stem of amaroún "to make dim or faint, weaken, impair" (verbal derivative of amaurós "dim, faint, having little or no sight," of uncertain origin) + -sis -sis

First Known Use

circa 1657, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of amaurosis was circa 1657

See more words from the same year