ec·ze·ma (?k?s?-m?, ?g?z?-, ?g-z??-)n. A noncontagious inflammation of the skin, characterized chiefly by redness, itching, and the outbreak of lesions that may discharge serous matter and become encrusted and scaly.[New Latin, from Greek ekzema, from ekzein, to break out, boil over : ek-, out; see ecto- + zein, to boil; see yes- in Indo-European roots.]ec·zem?a·tous (?g-z?m??-t?s, -z??m?-t?s, ?g-) adj.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.