How to Pronounce Rickets

Rickets is pronounced RIK-ets, rhyming with "pickets." The stress is on the first syllable: RIK (say it loud and strong), then ets (say it softer). The word has two syllables total, and the "ck" makes one hard k sound.

Many people accidentally stress the second syllable, saying ri-KETS instead of RIK-ets. Remember: the emphasis goes on the first syllable, just like in the word "ticket."

Rickets breaks into two syllables: RIK-ets. The first syllable ends with the "ck" sound, and the second syllable is just "ets."

Rickets doesn't have a standard abbreviation in medical writing. The full word "rickets" is almost always used, though doctors might add a descriptor like "nutritional rickets" or "vitamin D–deficient rickets" to specify the type.

Rickets is a bone condition that makes bones soft and weak. It's a condition where bones don't grow or develop the way they should, leading to visible changes in the legs and joints.

The word rickets comes from an old English word meaning "to twist" or "to bend." While rickets doesn't have many common medical relatives, the word "rickety" (meaning shaky or unstable) comes from the same root, which makes sense since rickets causes bones to become weak and unstable.

Here are two examples: "The doctor explained that rickets is a bone condition that develops during childhood." Or: "We learned about rickets in health class and how it affects skeletal development."

Not quite. The "ck" at the end might seem odd, but it's there to keep the "i" short (like in "pick"). If it were spelled just "rites," people would pronounce it like the word "rights," which would be wrong.