From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishperitonitisper‧i‧to‧ni‧tis /ˌperɪtəˈnaɪtɪs $ -tnˈaɪ-/ noun [uncountable] technical MIa serious condition in which the inside wall of someone’s abdomen (=part around and below your stomach) becomes infected and painful
Examples from the Corpus
peritonitis• It was acute peritonitis, and he was taken back to Wrexham hospital - this time, obviously, as an in-patient.• Kilvert died in Bredwardine of peritonitis 23 September 1879, ten days after their return from the honeymoon.• The patient described by Boustany etal had a cytochrome c oxidase deficiency and a long illness before she eventually died of peritonitis.• Having survived peritonitis and a brain haemorrhage on top of an inoperable cancer, who was to speculate?• If the infection is unchecked, peritonitis may follow and gonorrhoea becomes a life-threatening emergency.• This increase in water solubility made possible an invitro incubation test with intraperitoneal pus or fluid from patients with peritonitis.• This test was carried out on six patients with peritonitis, and the severity of bacterial peritonitis was expressed quantitatively.Origin peritonitis (1700-1800) peritoneum “inside wall of the abdomen” ((16-21 centuries)) (from Late Latin, from Greek) + -itis 