listhesis

Meaning

Noun

• A forward displacement (slippage) of a vertebra over a lower segment.

Origin

• From misanalysing spondylolisthesis as spondylo- + listhesis. The second element would be more accurately written olisthesis; it is from Ancient Greek ὀλισθάνω ("to slip, to slide"). Compare olistostrome.
• The word first appears in a 1912 medical terminology reference.