Lexical-terminological evolution of rare diseases: review of dictionaries of the Real Academia Española

Abstract

This paper focuses on the terminological development of fifty-four rare diseases. It analyzes the degree of lexical acceptance that these terms have and have had –over time– in their treatment and inclusion in academic dictionaries of Spanish language. Until now, only twenty of the selected terms have been included in DRAE, accounting for 37.03 %. This situation shows the lack of solid criteria in incorporating new terms about rare diseases in this general dictionary. The most noticeable case is fibromyalgia, a pathology that has recently ceased to be considered a rare disease, which, however, does not appear in DRAE. If, on the one hand, it must be assumed that the DRAE is not a specialized medical dictionary; on the other, it must assess the degree of incorporation of these voices in social life.