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My goal is pretty much simple nonetheless challenging; I'm going to try and find as many English words as possible that are Greek. Challenge accepted. And trust me, there's a lot of them.


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Medical terms

You should know all medical terms come from Ancient Greek and Latin. But the scientific word for each and most of them, which is used among doctors, medical schools and universities, is Greek. Of course I'm not capable of writing down the entire medical vocabulary but I will give you a satisfying example. Bear with me.



Amnesia. From Ancient Greek α-, a-, not + μημνέσκειν, memneskein, to remember - ἀμνησία, amnēsia, forgetfulness.



 
Anesthesia. From Greek αν-, an-, without and αἴσθησις, aisthēsis, sensation. Loss of sensation induced by drugs. It's called general anesthesia when consciousness is lost and local anesthesia when only a specific area of the body is involved.
   


Arthritis. From Greek άρθρο, joint and -ίτις. Inflammation of a joint or joints causing pain and/or disability , swelling and stiffness, and due to various causes such as infection, trauma, degenerative changes or metabolic disorders.




Bradycardia. From Ancient Greek βραδύς, vrades, slow and καρδιά, kardia, heart. Slowness of the heart rate.




Cardiology. From Greek καρδίᾱ, kardiā, heart and -λογία, -logia, the study of something, so the study of the heart.




Cancer. From Ancient Greek καρκίνος, karkinos , crab; applied to cancerous tumors because the enlarged veins resembled the legs of a crab.



Glaucoma. From Greek γλαύκωμα, glaukōma, an opacity of the crystalline lens, derived from γλαυκός, glaukós, clear. A disease of the eye in which pressure within the eyeball damages the optic disc, impairing vision, sometimes progressing to blindness.



Gynecology. From Ancient Greek γυνή, gyne, modern Greek γυναίκα, gynaika, woman and -λογία, study. So gynecology is the medical study of women. 



Orthodontics. From Greek ορθός, orthos, straight or proper or perfect and οδούς, odous, tooth. The dental specialty and practice of preventing and correcting irregularities of the teeth, as by the use of braces.



Osteoporosis
.
From Greek οστούν, ostoun, bone and πόρος, poros, pore is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture



Paraplegia. From Ancient Greek παρά, beside and πλήσσειν, plessein, to strike. A condition where the lower half of a patient's body is paralyzed and cannot move.




Rhinoplasty. From Ancient Greek ις rhis, nose and πλάσσειν, plassein, to shape. Known as a nose job.
 




Stethoscope. From Greek στήθος, stéthos, chest and σκοπή, skopé, examination. It's an acoustic medical device for listening to the internal sounds of a body.


 

Thorax. From Greek θώραξ, thorax, breastplate. It's a division of a body that lies between the head and the abdomen.

3 comments:

  1. Μ' αρέσει πολύ αυτό το μπλογκ!
    Να 'σαι καλά, Tallulah! :)

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  2. Ευχαριστώ! wow δεν περίμενα πραγματικά να "αρέσει" σε κάποιον. Τσέκαρε και το άλλο μπλογκ μου αν θες. Ευχαριστώ για το σχόλιο και την ακολουθία σου :)

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    Replies
    1. Α, καλά! Έπεσες στην περίπτωση. Μη δω ετυμολογίες, λέξεις, ιστορία λέξεων κ.λπ. κ.λπ. τρώω μεγάλο κόλλημα! Ίσως σε μια προηγούμενη ζωή ήμουν γλωσσολόγος ή φιλόλογος ή δεν ξέρω κι εγώ τι άλλο σχετικό! :)

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