Meaning & use
calculous
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to or caused by a calculus, meaning a hard mineral deposit such as a kidney stone or gallstone.
Grammar: Usually comes directly before a medical condition noun: calculous cholecystitis. It is not used comparatively in ordinary medical writing.
Patterns
- calculous cholecystitis
- calculous disease
- calculous obstruction
The scan suggested calculous cholecystitis rather than simple inflammation.
A calculous obstruction can prevent bile from draining normally.
Common combinations
- calculous cholecystitis
- Calculous cholecystitis means gallbladder inflammation linked to gallstones.
- calculous disease
- The report compared calculous disease with infections that cause similar pain.
- calculous obstruction
- Doctors treated the calculous obstruction before it damaged the kidney.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lithiasic
- Also caused by stones, but it is even more technical and much less common in ordinary medical English.
- lithogenic
- Means tending to form stones, not simply describing a condition already caused by stones.
Opposites
Word family
- calculus noun
- A hard mineral deposit in the body, or a branch of mathematics; the medical stone sense is the source of calculous.
- calcify verb
- To become hardened with calcium salts; broader than forming a discrete stone.
Commonly confused: calculous or calculus? calculous or calculate?
calculous vs calculus
Calculus is the noun for the stone itself or the mathematical method; calculous is the adjective describing a stone-related condition.
calculous vs calculate
Calculate means to compute or estimate; despite the shared root, it does not describe stones in the body.
Practice
Choose the best word: The surgeon said the pain came from ____ cholecystitis caused by gallstones.
Choose one answer.
Calculous is an adjective meaning stone-related, so it correctly modifies cholecystitis. Calculus is the noun for the stone, while calculate and calculation concern arithmetic, not gallstones.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “calculous”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.