hypochondria

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌhaɪpə(ʊ)ˈkɒndriə/ (UK); /ˌhaɪ.poʊˈkɒn.dri.ə/, /ˌhaɪ.pəˈkɑn.dri.ə/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin hypochondria (“the upper abdomen”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek ὑποχόνδρια (hupokhóndria), the neuter plural of hupokhondrios “under the cartilage of the breastbone”,^[2][4][6] from Ancient Greek ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + χόνδρος (khóndros, “cartilage”).^[2][3][4][5] The upper abdomen, holding the liver, gall bladder and spleen, was long believed to be the seat of melancholy.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In Middle English the medical term appeared as ipocondrie or ypocandria.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The regions of the abdomen just below the ribs on either side (late 14th century; 1563 in the plural form hypochondria).^[4][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Because the organs of these regions were thought to produce melancholy, the word came to mean depression or low spirits without a real cause, a sense recorded from 1668.^[3][5][7][4] Etymonline traces the narrowing to an unfounded belief that one is ill to the 1790s writings of the Edinburgh physician William Cullen, with the sense established by 1816;^[4] Barnhart dates it to 1839 and notes the influence of hypochondriasis (1766).^[3]

Timeline

• late 14th century – ipocondrie, the upper sides of the abdomen.^[4]
• 1563 – hypochondria, the viscera of these regions, seat of melancholy.^[7][3]
• 1668 – melancholy or low spirits without real cause.^[7][3][5]
• 1816 – unfounded belief that one is ill (Etymonline; 1839 in Barnhart).^[4][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A persistent, excessive worry that one has or will get a serious illness, often with real discomfort though no disease is present.
2. (archaic) Melancholy or low spirits.
3. Plural of hypochondrium, the upper side regions of the abdomen.

Related words

• chondro-
• hypo-
• hypochondriac
• hypochondriacal
• hypochondriasis
• hypochondrium
• hype

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press