Definition of hypochondria

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< hypochlorous acid

hypochondriac >

hy·po·chon·dri·a    (hp-kndr-) KEY 

NOUN:

1. The persistent conviction that one is or is likely to become ill, often involving symptoms when illness is neither present nor likely, and persisting despite reassurance and medical evidence to the contrary. Also called hypochondriasis.
2. Plural of hypochondrium.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Late Latin, abdomen, from Greek hupokhondria, pl. of hupokhondrion, abdomen (held to be the seat of melancholy), from neuter of hupokhondrios, under the cartilage of the breastbone : hupo-, hypo- + khondros, cartilage; see ghrendh- in Indo-European roots