diabetes

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz/, /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtɪs/ (UK); /ˌdaɪəˈbitiz/, /ˌdaɪəˈbitɪs/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is medical borrowed from Latin diabetes,^[2][3][4] from Greek διαβήτης (diabḗtēs, “siphon; excessive discharge of urine”), literally a passer-through,^[2][3][5] from διαβαίνω (diabaínein, “to go through; to stand with legs apart”), from διά (diá, “through”) and βαίνω (baínein, “to go”),^[3][2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *gwa- (“to go, come”).^[3] Etymonline says the disease was so named by Aretaeus of Cappadocia in the 2nd century.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A disease marked by excessive discharge of urine: probably before 1425, as diabete, in a translation of Chauliac's surgery;^[2] the spelling diabetes is from 1562.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek diabetes meant a drafting compass, from the position of its legs.^[3] An old common native name for the disease was pissing evil.^[3] A siphon is a rare obsolete sense in English (1661).^[6] The word is now usually restricted to diabetes mellitus, with an excess of sugar in the urine.^[3][7] Diabetic is from 1799.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – diabete.^[2]
• 1562 – diabetes.^[2][6]
• 1661 – a siphon (obsolete).^[6]
• 1799 – diabetic.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A disorder in which the body cannot properly control the level of sugar in the blood, because of a lack of insulin or resistance to it; diabetes mellitus.
2. Any of several disorders marked by excessive production of urine, such as diabetes insipidus.

Word family

• prediabetes
• diabetes mellitus
• diabetes insipidus
• type 1 diabetes
• type 2 diabetes
• bronze diabetes
• sugar diabetes
• adult-onset diabetes

Related words

• diabetic
• insulin
• basis

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin