define hypochondria
Hypochondriac comes ultimately from the Greek word hypokhondria, which literally means âunder the cartilage (of the breastbone).â In the late 16th century, when hypochondriac first entered the English language, it referred to the upper abdomen. The upper abdomen, it turns out, was thought to be the seat of melancholy at a time when the now-outdated medical theory of the four humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile [choler], and black bile [melancholy]) was accepted as a basis for legitimate health practice.