The building blocks of English

Affixes

-malacia

Abnormal softening of a tissue.

Greek malakos, soft.

Examples include osteomalacia (Greek osteon, bone), softening of the bones, typically through a deficiency of vitamin D or calcium; chondromalacia (Greek khondros, cartilage), degeneration of cartilage at a joint, in particular the knee; and tracheomalacia, erosion of the trachea. Malacia also exists, with the general sense of softening of some organ or tissue.