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.