What does diaphoresis mean?
Diaphoresis is the medical term for excessive sweating — perspiration beyond what heat, exercise, or normal conditions would produce. It is most often encountered in clinical settings, where it signals an underlying cause: fever, infection, pain, heart trouble, low blood sugar, hormonal shifts, or the effects of drugs such as opioids or certain antidepressants. A doctor might note, for example, that a patient presented with chest pain and diaphoresis, a pairing that raises concern for a cardiac event. The word derives from Greek roots meaning essentially 'to carry through', evoking sweat being carried out through the skin. Its adjective form is 'diaphoretic', which can describe both something causing sweating and, in older herbal medicine, a remedy taken to induce it. Because it is technical register vocabulary, diaphoresis rarely appears in casual conversation, but it is indispensable in medical documentation, nursing notes, and pharmacology, where precision about this common but potentially serious sign matters.
nounExcessive sweating, especially as a physiological response to fever, illness, medication, or other medical conditions rather than to heat or exertion.
- Excessive or profuse sweating, typically as a symptom of an underlying condition, fever, drug effect, or autonomic response, used chiefly in medical contexts.
"The patient's night sweats and diaphoresis prompted the physician to order a full panel of tests."
"Diaphoresis accompanied the patient's sudden drop in blood pressure."
"Common side effects of the medication include nausea, dizziness, and diaphoresis."
The plural exists on the classical pattern (Greek -sis → -ses) but is uncommon; the noun is usually treated as uncountable since sweating is a mass phenomenon.
"Recurrent nocturnal diaphoreses were recorded over several nights of observation."
Diaphoresis comes from Greek roots meaning 'to carry through' — the idea that sweat is carried through the skin and out of the body.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of diaphoresis
Diaphoresis comes from the Greek 'diaphorein', meaning 'to perspire', formed from 'dia-' ('through') and 'phorein' ('to carry'), so the word literally suggests sweat being carried through the skin. It passed into English via Late Latin 'diaphoresis' and became established in medical usage around the early modern period. The same Greek root gives English 'diaphoretic', an adjective describing agents that promote sweating, while the '-phorein' element also appears in unrelated words like 'metaphor' ('carrying across').
Related word forms
How diaphoresis is actually used
A formal, clinical term found almost exclusively in medical writing; in everyday speech one would say 'heavy sweating'. Plural 'diaphoreses' exists but is rare.
Easily confused with diaphoresis
'Diagnosis' means the identification of a disease, while 'diaphoresis' refers to excessive sweating; the words merely share a similar rhythm of syllables.