enema

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin enema,^{[2][3][4][5][1]} which Etymonline and Barnhart call Medieval Latin,^[6][7] from Ancient Greek ἔνεμα (énema, “injection”),^[8][1][9] from ἐνίημι (eníēmi, “to send in, inject”),^[1][2][6] formed from ἐν (en, “in”) and ἵημι (híēmi, “to send, throw”).^[8][6][2] The OED takes the word directly from Greek,^[8] and Collins through New Latin.^[10] Etymonline derives the parts from Proto-Indo-European *en (“in”) and Proto-Indo-European *ye- (“to throw, impel”),^[6] and Klein compares the Greek verb with Latin iaciō (“to throw”) and refers to jet.^[9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An injection of liquid into the rectum as a purge: before 1425, in a translation of Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, where it is given as another name for a clyster.^[11][7] The 1989 edition of the OED and its current text have no example before 1681, in a table of hard words,^[8][12] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1675–85.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The OED's definition covers both the liquid or gas introduced into the rectum, whether as medicine or as nourishment, and the apparatus used to give it, recorded from 1891.^[8] Collins and the Shorter Oxford also use it for the procedure itself, made to empty the bowels, give a medicine or nourish the patient.^[10][4]

Timeline

• before 1425 – an injection into the rectum, a clyster.^[11][7]
• 1681 – a liquid or gas introduced into the rectum.^[8]
• 1891 – short for the apparatus used to give an enema.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The introduction of a liquid into the rectum through the anus, to empty the bowels or to give a medicine: The nurse prepared an enema before the operation.^{[10][3][14][4]}
2. The liquid introduced in this way.^[10][8]
3. A syringe or other apparatus used to give it.^[4][8]

Related words

• clyster
• jet

Usage notes

The plural is enemas, or, less often, enemata.^[10][3][15] The first edition of the OED (1891) noted a pronunciation with the stress on the second syllable, /ɛˈniːmə/, and called it incorrect though widely used;^[8] Weekley also noted that the word was usually mispronounced.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
12. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
14. ^ Stedman's Medical Dictionary, Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
15. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
16. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray