phthisio-, phthis-, phthi-, -phthisis +
(Greek: decay, waste away, waning; loss, diminution)
In the past, tuberculosis was called consumption, because it seemed to consume people from within, with a bloody cough, fever, pallor, and long relentless wasting. Other names included phthisis, Greek for "consumption" and phthisis pulmonalis.
Word families with similar applications about: "decay, rotten; wasting away; putrid, pus" word units: puro- (pus); pus (viscous fluid via an infection); pustu- (blister, pimple); putre- (rotten, decayed); pyo- (pus; purulent); sapro- (rotten, putrid, putrefaction, decay); sepsi- (decay, rot, putrefactive); suppurant- (festering, forming or discharging pus); tabe- (wasting away, decaying).