Wiktionary
n. (context medicine English) A form of alopecia in which hair is lost from various areas of the body
WordNet
n. patchy baldness
Wikipedia
Alopecia areata, also known as spot baldness, is an autoimmune disease in which hair is lost from some or all areas of the body, usually from the scalp due to the body's failure to recognize its own body cells and subsequent destruction of its own tissue. Often it results in bald spots on the scalp, especially in the first stages. In 1–2% of cases, the condition can spread to the entire scalp ( alopecia totalis) or to the entire skin ( alopecia universalis).
There are two types: (1) scarring alopecia, where there is fibrosis, inflammation, and loss of hair follicles, and (2) nonscarring alopecia, where the hair shafts are gone but the hair follicles are preserved, making this type of alopecia reversible. Conditions resembling alopecia areata, and having a similar cause, occur also in other species.
Usage examples of "alopecia areata".
Monica and everyone else learned that the type of mange from which he suffered was called alopecia areata, and everywhere harmless, afflicted citizens wrote to the papers protesting that this ailment was not a mark of turpitude.
Seen from above, illuminated in the evening, the city looks like a head with patches of alopecia areata.