scleroderma
Medical term for a chronic connective tissue disease characterized by hardening and tightening of the skin.
Scleroderma is one of the autoimmune diseases.
Standard medical term for scleroderma.
Rare variant using the non-jōyō kanji 鞏; not commonly encountered.
From 強 (stiff, hard) + 皮 (skin) + 症 (disease, condition). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the spelling is conventionally associated with the medical meaning.