Definition

Noun: 1. A medical condition characterized by the development of male secondary sexual characteristics in a female or prematurely in a young boy. This condition is typically caused by an excess of androgens (male sex hormones) and can result in physical changes such as deepening of the voice, increased body hair (hirsutism), male-pattern baldness, and enlargement of the clitoris in females.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The patient's symptoms, including severe hirsutism and a deepened voice, led to a diagnosis of virilism.
  • Virilism in young boys can manifest as the premature development of facial hair and an enlarged penis.
  • The endocrinologist explained that the adrenal tumor was the cause of the virilism.

Advanced Usage

• Medical Context: The term is used almost exclusively in medical and endocrinological contexts to describe a specific syndrome of androgen excess. It is a clinical descriptor rather than a casual term.
• Distinction from Hirsutism: While hirsutism (excessive hair growth) is a common symptom, virilism refers to a more severe presentation that includes additional masculinizing features.

Variants and Related Words

• Virilization (n): Often used synonymously with virilism to describe the process or condition of developing male secondary sexual characteristics. Some medical texts may use "virilization" more broadly for the process and "virilism" for the established condition.
• Virilizing (adj): Describing an agent or tumor that causes virilism (e.g., a adrenal tumor).
• Androgen Excess (n): The hormonal cause underlying virilism.

Synonyms

• Masculinization
• Androgenization

Antonyms

• Feminization
• Demasculinization

Notes on Meaning

The term virilism is specific and clinical. It should not be confused with general traits of assertiveness or strength sometimes colloquially described as "virile." It refers specifically to a biological, hormone-driven development of physical characteristics typical of the opposite sex.

Noun

1. the development of male secondary sexual characteristics in a female (or prematurely in a young boy)