chemotherapy

Etymology

It is formed from English chemo- + therapy,^[2][3][4] after German Chemotherapie, recorded from 1906 or earlier,^[2] which was coined by the German biochemist Paul Ehrlich.^[5][6][7] Barnhart treats the English word as a borrowing of the German one,^[6] and Merriam-Webster as a word of the International Scientific Vocabulary.^[8] The combining form chemo- comes from chemical and was used to form scientific compounds from about 1900;^[5] therapy comes through New Latin therapia from Ancient Greek θεραπεία (therapeía, “healing, service done to the sick”).^[5][6] The OED compares French chimiothérapie, found once in 1855 and then from the early 20th century.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The treatment of disease, especially infectious disease, with specific chemical agents or drugs: 1906, in The Lancet of 6 October.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Ehrlich's term was first used of drugs that are selectively toxic to the agent of a disease, such as a bacterium or other microorganism;^[9][2] Merriam-Webster also includes its use against mental illness.^[10] From the 1950s it came to be used especially of the treatment of cancer,^[5] now its main meaning.^[9][8] The short form chemo is recorded from 1977.^[2][5] Barnhart dates the English word to 1907 and Merriam-Webster to 1910.^[6][8]

Timeline

• 1906 – treatment of disease with chemical agents, in The Lancet.^[2][5]
• 1907 – Barnhart's date, as a borrowing from German.^[6]
• 1950s – used especially of the treatment of cancer.^[5]
• 1977 – the short form chemo.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The treatment of cancer with drugs that destroy or check the growth of malignant cells: He started chemotherapy a month after the operation.^[9][8][11]
2. The treatment of any disease with chemical agents, especially ones that are toxic to the virus, bacterium or other microorganism causing it.^[9][8][2]

Word family

• chemotherapeutic
• chemotherapeutically
• chemotherapist

Related words

• chemo
• chemical
• therapy
• radiotherapy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins