Daily AncestorAtrophy
Atrophy on old records meant wasting away of the body, most often a thin, failing infant who did not grow or keep weight.
The word comes from Greek for lack of nourishment. For babies it was close to marasmus and often followed poor feeding, chronic diarrhea or hidden infection.
For adults atrophy might describe the wasting of a long illness. Either way it describes how the person looked, not a specific disease.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Infant of Wm. Gray, 4 mos., Atrophy
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Atrophy." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/atrophy. Last checked 2026-10-01.