Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
From Ancient Greek γῆρας (gêras, “old age”) + ἰατρός (iatrós, “physician”); coined in English in 1909 by Ignatz L. Nascher in the New York Medical Journal on the model of pediatrics; correct formation would be gerontiatrics.
- (medicine) The branch of medicine that focuses on health promotion and the prevention and treatment of disease and disability in later life. The term itself can be distinguished from gerontology, which is the study of the aging process itself.
- plural form of ; old people.
branch of medicine dealing with the elderly