dermatology

Etymology

It is formed from English dermato- + -logy.^{[2][3][1][4][5][6]} The first part is from Ancient Greek δέρμα (dérma, “skin, hide, leather”), stem δέρματ- (dérmat-),^[7][8][4] from δέρω (dérō, “to skin, flay”),^[3] from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to split, flay, peel”).^[4][8] The second is from -λογία (-logía), from -λόγος (-lógos, “one who deals with a certain topic”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The branch of science that deals with the skin, its nature and its diseases: 1813, in J. M. Good's Pantologia.^[7] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the word to 1819,^[4][5] Dictionary.com to 1810–20.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense, though dictionaries now usually describe it as a branch of medicine rather than of science.^[7][9][10] It could formerly also mean a treatise on the skin.^[11] A specialist was called a dermatologist from 1833 according to Etymonline, from 1879 in the OED's first quotation,^[4][7] and the adjective dermatological is recorded from the late 19th century.^[11]

Timeline

• 1813 – the science of the skin and its diseases.^[7] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster give 1819.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The branch of medicine that deals with the skin, its structure and functions, and its diseases.^[10][9][5]

Word family

• dermatological
• dermatologist

Related words

• derma
• dermis
• epidermis
• pachyderm
• taxidermy

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press