Anorexia and anorexia nervosa are often used together, implying that they mean the same thing. However, anorexia nervosa is the clinical term for the eating disorder, referring to the use of Nervosa, as this is a medical term (Latin, referring to the nervous system). This means that there is a diagnostic criterion that one must meet to suffer from anorexia nervosa.Anorexia alone can describe an aversion to food and does not have the same medical connotations.