Tabes \Ta"bes\, n. [L., a wasting disease.]

(Med.) Progressive emaciation of the body, accompained with hectic fever, with no well-marked logical symptoms.

Tabes dorsalis[NL., tabes of the back], locomotor ataxia; -- sometimes called simply tabes.

Tabes mesenterica[NL., mesenteric tabes], a wasting disease of childhood characterized by chronic inflammation of the lymphatic glands of the mesentery, attended with caseous degeneration.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)