Necrobiosis

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Necrobiosis \Nec`ro*bi*o"sis\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. nekro`s dead + ?
     way of life, fr. ? life.] (Biol. & Med.)
     The death of a part of an organism by molecular
     disintegration and without loss of continuity, as in the
     processes of degeneration and atrophy; a normal dying out of
     cells in a tissue, in contrast to {necrosis}. --Virchow.


     [1913 Webster +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  necrobiosis
       n : (physiology) the normal degeneration and death of living
           cells (as in various epithelial cells) [syn: {cell death}]