n. pl. atÂ·roÂ·phies. 1  1. A wasting or decrease in size of a body organ, tissue, or part owing to disease, injury, or lack of use: muscular atrophy of a person affected with paralysis. 2  2. A wasting away, deterioration, or diminution: intellectual atrophy.
August 2004: The Statue of Liberty reopens for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001. The Statue of Liberty reopens with monitors that show emergency exits. At the bottom of every monitor is a scrolling message: âIf you see something, say something.â.
Theological sense is first recorded early 14c.; the optative expletive use likely is as old. Damn and its derivatives generally were avoided in print from 18c. to c.1930s (the famous line in the film version of Gone with the Wind was a breakthrough and required much effort by the studio). The noun is recorded from 1610s; to be not worth a damn is from 1817.