steat(o)- Also stear-.

Fat.

[Greek stear, steat-, tallow or fat.]

The condition called steatopygia (Greek pugē, rump) is the accumulation of large amounts of fat on the buttocks; steatosis is the infiltration of liver cells by fat as a result of a medical condition; steatorrhoea (Greek rhoia, flow, flux) is the excretion of abnormal quantities of fat with the faeces owing to reduced absorption of fat by the intestine. Stearic acid is a solid saturated fatty acid obtained from animal or vegetable fats, which forms salts called stearates; a glyceryl ester of stearic acid, stearin, is a white crystalline substance which is the main constituent of tallow and suet; the mineral called steatite is a consolidated form of talc, also called soapstone from its slippery feel. See also lipo-.

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