How to Pronounce Huntington's Disease

Say it like this: HUN-ting-tunz dih-ZEEZ. The first part rhymes with "bunting," and the second part sounds like "disease" with a soft z sound. The stress falls on the first syllable: HUN.

Break it into four syllables: Hunt-ing-ton's (that's three) plus dis-ease (that's two more). So altogether: Hunt-ing-ton's dis-ease. Notice that "Huntington's" ends with a possessive apostrophe-s, named after the doctor who first described it.

The stress goes on the FIRST syllable: HUN-ting-tunz. A common mistake is stressing the second syllable (hun-TING-tunz), but that's incorrect. Remember: HUN is where the emphasis belongs.

People often say "Hun-TIN-ton's" (wrong stress), "Hunting-TONS" (wrong ending sound), or "Hun-ting-TONS" (sounds like the weight measurement). The correct way is HUN-ting-tunz, with the z sound at the end of disease, not an s sound.

Huntington's is named after George Huntington, an American doctor who thoroughly described the condition in 1872. The possessive 's indicates it's named after him, which is why it's written as "Huntington's" with an apostrophe.

Disease (pronounced dih-ZEEZ) is a common medical word meaning an illness or condition affecting the body or mind. It comes from the Old French word meaning "lack of ease," so it literally describes a state of being unwell or not at ease.

Yes, it's often shortened to HD. You'd say "H-D" (each letter separately), and it's commonly used in medical writing and conversations as a quicker way to refer to the full name.

You might say: "The doctor explained that Huntington's Disease is hereditary, meaning it runs in families" or "She is studying Huntington's Disease as part of her neurology research." Use it as you would any disease name.