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selenophobia. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
selenophobia, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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selenophobia you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From seleno- + -phobia, from Ancient Greek Σελήνη (Selḗnē, “Moon”) + φόβος (phóbos, “fear”).
Pronunciation
Noun
selenophobia (countable and uncountable, plural selenophobias)
- An abnormal or irrational fear of the Moon.
- A fear of selenium due to its perceived status as a carcinogen and toxin.
- Antonym: selenophilia
2017, Joao B. T. Rocha, Claudia S. Oliveira, Pablo A. Nogara, “Toxicology and Anticancer Activity of Synthetic Organoselenium Compounds”, in Organoselenium Compounds in Biology and Medicine, Royal Society of Chemistry, page 349:[…] the chronic use of dietary selenium supplementation or chronic ingestion of drinking water containing selenium slightly above normal or safe levels can facilitate the development of diabetes type 2 and neurodegenerative diseases. These observations do not indicate that we have returned to the era of selenophobia (the fear of selenium observed in the 20th century), but we have to be much more critical about the intentional or unintentional chronic use of selenium.