tonus
/ˈtəʊnəs
/noun [mass noun]
The constant low-level activity of a body tissue, especially muscle tone: increased tonus of the muscles about the eye...
- Also, subjacent vascular smooth muscle cells increase their tonus.
- Since then, I have always remembered the side effects of fentanyl, particularly the increase in sphincter tonus, and all my junior colleagues hear a ‘short lecture’ from me on the subject.
- Upper airway patency during sleep is determined, in part, by the tonus of pharyngeal dilator muscles.
Origin
Late 19th century: from Latin, from Greek tonos 'tension'.