presbyopia

[prettygoodword]

presbyopia (prez-bee-OH-pee-uh, pres-bee-OH-pee-uh) - n., the inability of the eye, due to ageing, to focus on nearby objects.


I resemble that remark -- I've stashed a pair of readers in almost every room of the house. Basically, the ciliary muscle gets weaker and the lens loses elasticity, making it harder to focus on stuff close up -- reading distances. Taken around 1790 from New (i.e. medical) Latin presbyōpia, from Ancient Greek présbus, old man + New Latin -ōpia, vision problem, from Ancient Greek ṓps, eye. Okay, middle-aged I'll cop to, but I don't count as "old man" yet (except in the eyes of my 9-year-old).

---L.

Comments

[mtbc]

Yeah, it's one of the clearest signs of aging that's unmistakably afflicting me.

[prettygoodword]

As the only member of my family to not wear glasses, it took me a little while to get used to the idea.

[mtbc]

It was quite a change for me, too! My eyesight used to be excellent, even a bit later in life it was still 20/12 or so, so the degradation into medically significant has been rather an inversion. I seem to have some astigmatism too, given my difficulty with distant illuminated signs. And, yeah, even my kids wear glasses, have for years.

[prettygoodword]

For me at least it's strictly presbyopia -- distance vision is still fine. :knocks wood: