What does amaurosis mean?
Amaurosis is a medical term for blindness or severe loss of vision that occurs without any visible damage or disease within the eye itself, implying that the cause lies in the optic nerve, brain, or blood supply to the eye. Its best-known modern form is amaurosis fugax, a fleeting episode of blindness in one eye — often described by patients as a curtain sweeping across their field of vision — which results from a temporary interruption of blood flow to the retina and serves as an important warning sign of impending stroke. The word also appears in the name of Leber's congenital amaurosis, a rare inherited retinal condition that causes severe vision loss from infancy. Derived from the ancient Greek word for dark or dim, amaurosis carries a formal, clinical register: it belongs to the vocabulary of ophthalmologists and neurologists rather than casual conversation, but its dramatic symptomatology and diagnostic significance make it a striking example of how classical language persists in modern medicine.
nounLoss or impairment of vision, especially blindness occurring without any visible change or lesion in the eye itself. In modern medicine it most often refers to transient monocular blindness caused by reduced blood flow to the retina.
- Blindness or severe visual loss occurring without any visible abnormality in the eye itself (the general medical sense).
- Transient monocular blindness due to temporary interruption of blood supply to the retina or optic nerve, known specifically as amaurosis fugax.
"The patient described a curtain descending over her left eye — a classic presentation of amaurosis fugax."
"The ophthalmologist could find nothing wrong with the eye's structure, leading her to suspect a neurological cause for the amaurosis."
"An episode of amaurosis fugax lasting a few minutes prompted an urgent referral to the stroke clinic."
The plural follows the standard Greek-derived '-is' → '-es' pattern shared with terms like neuroses and psychoses.
"The case series reviewed several distinct amauroses of vascular and hereditary origin."
When people say a 'curtain' suddenly fell over their eye, doctors call it amaurosis fugax — and treat it as a five-alarm warning that a stroke may be coming.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of amaurosis
Amaurosis derives from the ancient Greek word 'amauros', meaning dark, dim, or obscure, and entered Western medical vocabulary through Latin before being adopted into English medical usage around the early seventeenth century. The same Greek root underlies the adjective form 'amaurotic' used in modern clinical terminology. It shares its '-osis' suffix — denoting a diseased or abnormal condition — with numerous other Greek-derived medical terms such as neurosis and thrombosis.
Related word forms
How amaurosis is actually used
Strictly a medical term, encountered almost exclusively in clinical, ophthalmological, and neurological contexts rather than everyday speech. The adjective form 'amaurotic' appears in descriptions of inherited retinal disorders such as Leber's congenital amaurosis. Lay readers are far more likely to encounter the terms 'blindness' or 'vision loss'.
Easily confused with amaurosis
Amblyopia refers to reduced vision in an otherwise structurally normal eye (often 'lazy eye'), whereas amaurosis denotes more severe loss or complete absence of sight.