"infection disease characterized by an abnormally high proportion of mononuclear leucocytes in the blood," 1917, coined from mononuclear + Modern Latin -osis "abnormal condition."
Entries linking to mononucleosis
mononuclear adj.
"having a single nucleus," 1866; see mono- "single" + nuclear.
-osis
word-forming element expressing state or condition, in medical terminology denoting "a state of disease," from Latin -osis and directly from Greek -osis, formed from the aorist of verbs ending in -o. It corresponds to Latin -atio.
mono
1959 as a shortening of monophonic in reference to recordings; earlier used among printers for "monotype machine" (c. 1925) and generally for monochrome (motorcar, etc.), 1940s. From 1964 as short for mononucleosis.