Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

rheumatoid arthritis

noun

Definition of rheumatoid arthritis

  1. :  a usually chronic autoimmune disease that is characterized especially by pain, stiffness, inflammation, swelling, and sometimes destruction of joints — compare osteoarthritis

See rheumatoid arthritis defined for English-language learners

Explore Merriam-Webster

image386126722
Words That Come From the Dinner Table
video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
alt-5970fcc51169b
Trending: An Interview Full of 'Non sequiturs'
ghost-being-disinvited-from-party
'Disinvite' or 'Uninvite'?

First Known Use of rheumatoid arthritis

1859

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS Defined for English Language Learners

rheumatoid arthritis

noun

Definition of rheumatoid arthritis for English Language Learners

  • medical : a serious disease that continues to become worse over a long period of time and that causes the joints to become very painful, stiff, and swollen

Medical Dictionary

rheumatoid arthritis

noun

Medical Definition of rheumatoid arthritis

  1. :  a usually chronic disease that is considered an autoimmune disease and is characterized especially by pain, stiffness, inflammation, swelling, and sometimes destruction of joints—abbreviation RA; called also atrophic arthritis; compare osteoarthritis

Learn More about rheumatoid arthritis

  1. Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about rheumatoid arthritis

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up rheumatoid arthritis? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

crucible

play

a severe test

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. non sequitur “It does not follow”

  2. admiral's mast A massive search ends with an 'admiral's mast'.

  3. calumny 'An untrue statement that is made to damage someone's reputation'

  4. kakistocracy Frustrated Twitter users have been searching for this word.

  5. bona fide Made in good faith

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

rheumatoid arthritis

Test Your Vocabulary

The Emoji Quiz

  • emoji-the-quiz
  • What phase of the moon is this: 🌖 ?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

image386126722
Words and Phrases That Come from the Dinner Table

Fill your plate with these surprising food words

ghost-being-disinvited-from-party
'Disinvite' or 'Uninvite'?

A disinvited guest is an uninvited problem

alt-596f730ceb5ae
Words We're Watching: 'Scoby'

Kombucha lovers unite.

alt-596e1a928254c
Words We're Watching: 'Fidget Spinner'

Don't fight the fad

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz
image941935269
A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game