Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Pain along the sciatic nerve usually caused by a herniated disk of the lumbar region of the spine and radiating to the buttocks and to the back of the thigh.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Pain and tenderness in a sciatic nerve, its branches and peripheral distribution.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) Neuralgia of the sciatic nerve, an affection characterized by paroxysmal attacks of pain in the buttock, back of the thigh, or in the leg or foot, following the course of the branches of the sciatic nerve. The name is also popularly applied to various painful affections of the hip and the parts adjoining it. See Ischiadic passion, under ischiadic.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun pathology, neurology Neuralgia of the sciatic nerve characterised by pain radiating down through the buttocks and the back of the thigh.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun neuralgia along the sciatic nerve

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Medieval Latin, from feminine of sciaticus, of the hip; see sciatic.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word sciatica.

Examples

  • Dean Moyer of the Back Pain Blog points out that the only food cure for sciatica is eating less of it.

    Grand Rounds aka TBTAM 2009

  • I love the indigenous rustic stuff, but my sciatica is screaming for at least one comfortable stuffed, upholstered chair to spend the evening in with my books and music.

    furniture 2005

  • People didn't have LiveJournals to moan in back then, and even if they did the comments to all of your "My sciatica is acting up again" posts would be, "Well, I hope you can get to work on time or else you'll starve to death."

    A Moveable Feast 2004

  • This is often called sciatica, although the sciatic nerve that runs down the leg is often not to blame, Beiner said.

    New Haven Independent 2009

  • Her right hand shakes, her fingers are gnarled from arthritis, her sciatica is a source of constant pain.

    Tessie and Pearlie JOY HOROWITZ 1996

  • The sciatica was a dear enemy of long standing, always affectionately referred to by the forgiving

    The Old Wives' Tale Arnold Bennett 1899

  • As to sciatica, that is all nonsense; the blow in his side has done some serious damage, and if it is not well looked-to, who knows what will be the end of it!

    Clever Woman of the Family Charlotte Mary Yonge 1862

  • The pain sometimes extends on the outside of the thigh from the hip to the ankle, heel, or toes, and is then called sciatica; and has been thought to consist in an inflammation of the theca, or covering of the sciatic nerve, as the pain sometimes so exactly attends the principal branches of that nerve.

    Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life Erasmus Darwin 1766

  • A newly developed animal model for the painful nerve condition known as sciatica should help researc ...

    THE MEDICAL NEWS 2010

  • One example of peripheral neuropathic pain is "radicular" low back pain (also called sciatica).

    PLoS Medicine: New Articles 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.