diabetes /dī′əbē″tēz/ [Gk, diabainein, to pass through] , a clinical condition characterized by the excessive excretion of urine. The excess may be caused by a deficiency of antidiuretic hormone, as in diabetes insipidus, or it may be the polyuria resulting from the hyperglycemia that occurs in diabetes mellitus. See also diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus.
