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Definition of Rigor
Medically reviewed by Min Clinic Staff | Updated: January 2026
Rigor: A word with two different but related meanings in medicine:
- A chill, usually with shivering, as at the onset of high fever and chills.
- Rigidity, as in rigor mortis, the rigidity of a body after death.
The alternate spelling rigour is chiefly British. From the French, from the Latin rigor, meaning stiffness, from rigere, to be stiff.