gynecology

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from French gynécologie,^[2][3][4] formed from the combining form of Ancient Greek γυνή (gunḗ, “woman, female”), genitive γυναικός (gunaikós),^[2][4][1] and -logie (“study of”), from Greek -λογία (-logía).^[4][2][1] Merriam-Webster treats it as a formation of the international scientific vocabulary from gynec- and -logy.^[5][6][7] The Greek noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷen- (“woman”),^[4][8][9] which also gave queen and quean,^[2][9] Swedish kvinna, Danish kvinde, Irish bean and Welsh benyw.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The science of women's health and of the diseases peculiar to women: 1847.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that compounds of the Greek word for "woman" came into English with the revival of Greek studies in the 16th century, the earliest being gyneconome, an Athenian magistrate who watched over women's conduct (16th century), and gynocracy, rule by women (17th century); gynaecology came late, in the 1840s.^[9] Etymonline records gyniatrics as another word for it.^[4] The modern dictionaries define it as the medical care of women, centred on the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the reproductive organs.^[10][7][11]

Timeline

• 1847 – the study and medical care of women's health and diseases.^[4][2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to about 1847, and Ayto to the 1840s.^[5][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The branch of medicine that deals with the health of women, especially the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the female reproductive system: She chose to specialize in gynecology after her residency.^{[10][7][5][11][12]}

Word family

• gynecological
• gynecologist
• OB-GYN
• urogynecology
• gynecologic

Related words

• gyneco-
• gyno-
• -logy
• queen
• quean
• zenana

Usage notes

Gynaecology is the chiefly British spelling,^{[5][7][12][11]} and gynæcology an older one;^[1] in Canada gynecology is the more common form.^[1] Barnhart notes that the British pronunciation, with the g of go, has displaced the original American one with the sound of j;^[2] Random House still lists both.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House