The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-06-09
MEDICAL NOMENCLATURE.
Origin and Meaning of Terms Used
in Describing Diseases.

is redundant for the word apoplexy itself is
from the Greek meaning TO strike away.
while hemiplegia. from the Greek hemi
(halD and plesso (to strike) means half
blow. but none the less a serious one.
Other medical terms also suggest violence,
"a the plague from the Latin playa, mean
ing blow. reference to the ancient be-
Lief that plaques were inflicted by the gods
as punishment for some act omitted or
committed. This idea of punishment still
further appears In the word pain. from the
Latin poena a punishment. On the other
hand. ii was natural that the people should
seek the interposition of those who were
supposed to have special powers as plead
ers of their cause with the gods 10 re-
rove disease supposed TO be divine in
Fiction. Hence certain diseases became
known by the name of the saints who were
implored to intercede. There is the worn
chorea, (Sancti VitD. for example, from
the Greek chorea, derived from chorus,
meaning "A round dance accompanied with
song. Then, as ST. Vitus was reputed to
heal this disease his name was tackled on
To- it, not in opprobrium, but as a sort or
saving clause, the honor, however, being
rather questionable.
The chorus of the ancients was rather
solemn affair and good deal on one note
we'll as otherwise mOnotonous. but the
chorus of to-day, at least in the burlesque,
is rather giddy. Giddy, by the way, is an
Anglo-Saxon word from gid. a song giddi-
being from giddian, to sing or he
merry. Giddiness often leads to the actions
cf a bowling dervish, who dances until he
is dizzy, a word from the Anglo-Saxon.
dysig, meaning foolish. Vertigo, from the
Latin verto (to turn has the same signifi-
canoe as dizziness, but dispenses with the
giddiness that causes yet accompanies 1t.
Delirium. from de tout of. and Ira ca
furrow), is well chosen, for when man
gets out of the furrow all wise men who
keep to the straight line understand the
result Alienation Insanity is simply an
other term for one who Is out of the road,
from alieno (to make another's, TO es-
trange). referring to the fact that the vic
tim acts like a stranger. or possibly that
he is possessed of a stranger in the form
CT an evil spirit, this being an old belief
concerning madness. further evidenced
by the term possessed of-an evil spirit
being implied.
Cretinsm, from the French chretien,
Christian. does not describe the character
of the cretin, for he is not a desirable
Christian to have around with his imbe-
cility and degenerate ways. but in olden
time il was given to them on account of
the custom by which helpless imbeciles
appealed to Christian sympathy, or. per-
haps, although this spoils the romance,
from a French word. kreide CRAZE, chalk.
referring to the chalky pallor of the skin.
Fire also appears as root in many med
tprn
name for fever. is from the Greek root pyr,
meaning fire. Phlegmasia inflammation
is from the Greek phlego (to burn), while
Inflammation is from the Latin infamme,
TO set on fire. Carbunce. from the Latin
carbunculus. little COAL is diminutive
from carbe (coaD but it has no relation
| to its baby brother furuncle, diminutive
of the Latin fur. thief
| Effuson, which often attends inhamma
ton. is from the Latin effundo Co pour
| (ouD and geo Ito boil)
When a street is crowded almost to
blockade 1t is said to be congested. from
con (together) and zero to bear; the peo-
pie have clustered together: that is just
what happens in congestion in the body;
the globules and corpuscles having crowd
ed together in some highway or byway of
the body have hndered or entirely stopped
circulation in that part These little things.
| TO use a slang expression. get ''hot under
| the neck" they get excited and heated.
and when they meet their friends they get
| them excited, too. That is. Inflammation
| has set in by extension, from elk (ouD and
| tendo (to stretch); their friends become in
| fected, inficio (to dip i'm. or, rather, intox-
cated, from in Gn) and toxicum (poison),
| that is, poisoned by the excitement, and If
| the riot act is not Immediately read by the
| good physician and active means taken TO
| quell the disturbance all the individual and
component parts of the body will rise as
mob to put the intruders and mischief
makers out and clear the road
| Suppuration is a different thing There
| the pus, the root of the evil and the word,
gathers under sub the tissues and tunnels
| like a prisoner to escape from confinement.
| Onoma topoetic words are not uncommon
in medical lore. Thus cough is a word
| that suggests the sound of coughing, and is
made more appropriate by the cultural gh,
cultural being from guttur (throaD, a term
| appearing in goitre.
Hopping cough. not whooping cough, the
| w being expressed, is another term of this
| class, but ii is not so with the Latin name.
| pertussis. per in Latin being a word that
| intensifies the meaning, while tussis means
| a cough Some terms are derived from
| their function, as the oesophagus, Greek
else. future of the verb phere Ito bear) and
| phagein Ito eat); but the stomach is not
one of these. That is long ways off from
its root, stoma, meaning mouth.
Other terms are derived from their prox-
innate location, parotitis. the mumps
| from parotis, curl by the side of the ear
a queerly twisted term for the parctid
gland while coryza is from the Greek
koryza, from korse the side of the head.
Abdomen is from the Latin abdo, TO put
away. to conceal. and within it, intus
| Greek. for within. are intestines derived
! from the root intus; while surrounding the
cavity is the pertoneum. from peri
| (around) and tene Ito stretch).
Localities also give their names to dis
| eases. as Derbyshire neck for goitre be-
cause that disease was common in that dis
| trict; and Devonshire collie for lead poison
ing, because those who INDUCED too freely
iii Devonshire cider were thus afflicted
due either to a salt of lead purposely put
in the beverage to sweeten it, or TO con-
tamination by lead used in the watts aud
presses.
| There Is a prefix, dys, from the Greek
word meaning bad, i'll, etc, which PLAYS
Il