What does "tabes" mean?

Tabes: Progressive emaciation of the body, accompanied with hectic fever, with no well-marked local symptoms. Tabes dorsalis (dôr*sa"lis) [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.