fibrosis

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin fibrosis,^[2][3] a hybrid coinage of medical Latin^[4][5] formed from fibra (“a fibre, filament; entrails”) and the suffix -ōsis, which is of Greek origin and in medicine denotes a diseased state.^[4][5][6][7] The Latin noun is of uncertain origin, perhaps related to fīlum (“thread”) or to findō (“to split”).^[4] It is the source of fiber.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The development of excess fibrous tissue in an organ: 1873, in the British Medical Journal.^[2][3] Etymonline dates it to 1871 and Dictionary.com to 1870–75.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its medical meaning; the OED also glosses it as fibroid degeneration.^[2][3] Collins describes it as the result of inflammation, irritation or healing.^[9] Its best-known use is in cystic fibrosis, a hereditary disorder of the exocrine glands in which thick mucus blocks the ducts of the pancreas and other organs.^[7]

Timeline

• 1873 – excess fibrous tissue in an organ.^[2][3] Etymonline dates it to 1871.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The formation of an abnormal amount of fibrous tissue in an organ or part of the body, as a result of inflammation, irritation or healing.^[9][3][2][7]
2. cystic fibrosis: a hereditary disorder of the exocrine glands, in which thick mucus blocks the ducts.^[7]

Word family

• fibrotic
• myelofibrosis
• cystic fibrosis

Related words

• fiber
• fibrous
• fibroid

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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins