Kronískur

Kronískur is an Icelandic adjective meaning “chronic” or “long-lasting.” It is used to describe conditions, diseases, or processes that persist for a long time or recur over an extended period. In medical contexts, kronískur denotes non-acute conditions, in contrast to akút, which denotes sudden or short-term problems. Outside of medicine, it can describe any enduring phenomenon or issue. The word functions as a normal Icelandic adjective and inflects for gender and number, following the typical pattern of adjectives ending in -ur.

Etymology: Kronískur derives from Greek chronos (time) via Latin chronicus, with the Icelandic suffix -ískur forming adjectives meaning “-ic.” The term is related to the English word chronic and to other “chron-” terms in various languages.

Usage notes: In clinical writing in Icelandic, other terms such as langvarandi or langvarandi sjúkdómur may be used to express long-lasting disease; kronískur emphasizes duration as a property of the condition rather than an episodic occurrence.

See also: Chronic, Akút, Langvarandi.