cirrhosis

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin cirrhosis,^[2][3][4] coined by the French physician René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec (1781–1826)^[5][6][7] from Ancient Greek κιρρός (kirrhós, “orange-tawny, yellowish”)^[2][6][4][8] and the suffix -osis.^[3][9][8] The Greek adjective is of uncertain origin,^[6][8] or unknown according to Etymonline, which also calls the spelling of the coined word erroneous.^[5] Laennec chose the name for the yellowish, tawny colour that the diseased liver often shows when it is cut.^[3][4][6][8] The OED compares the French form cirrhose,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford notes that this French form was formerly used in English too.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chronic inflammation of connective tissue, originally and especially of the liver: 1827, in Etymonline's dating.^[5] The OED's first quotation is from Todd's Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology (1839–47), where it is Laennec's name for a liver disease found most often in drinkers of spirits.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The 1889 text of the OED, never fully revised, still describes cirrhosis as a chronic inflammation of the liver tissue with shrinking of the organ, occurring most frequently in spirit-drinkers,^[2][10] while modern dictionaries define it by the replacement of liver tissue with fibrous scar tissue and nodules, with causes that include long-term alcohol abuse and hepatitis.^[3][11][9] The word was also applied to similar changes in other organs, such as the lung.^[3][4][5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged marks this use as dated, and the American Heritage Dictionary says it is no longer used clinically.^[3][11] The adjective cirrhotic followed in the late 19th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 1827 – chronic inflammation of connective tissue, especially of the liver.^[5] The OED's first quotation is from 1839–47,^[2][8] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the word to about 1847.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chronic, progressive disease of the liver in which healthy tissue is replaced by fibrous scar tissue and nodules, caused by long-term alcohol abuse, hepatitis and other conditions; often in the phrase cirrhosis of the liver.^[3][11][9]
2. (dated) A similar hardening or chronic inflammation of another organ, such as the lung.^[3][11][4]

Word family

• cirrhotic
• cirrhosed

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt