Etymologically
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lymphoma

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 00:48. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • US: /lɪmˈfoʊ.mə/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English lymph + -oma,[2][3][4][5] after carcinoma and similar words;[2] Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com call it New Latin.[4][6] The first element is from French lymphe, from Latin lympha (“water, clear water”),[3] a spelling altered by association with Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “nymph”);[2][3] the OED explains it as from an older form that also gave limpidus, the source of limpid.[2] The suffix comes from Greek, where it formed nouns of result, and was taken in medicine for a morbid growth after sarcoma and carcinoma.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A tumour with the structure of a lymphatic gland: 1873, in Green's Introduction to Pathology and Morbid Anatomy.[2][4] Etymonline dates the word to 1867,[3] and Dictionary.com to 1870–75.[6]

Semantic evolution

The word first named a tumour of lymphoid structure, whatever its nature,[2] but it came to mean, in general use, a malignant disease of lymphoid tissue,[5][7][4] or any cancer of the lymph nodes.[8] The plural is lymphomas or, after the Greek, lymphomata.[4][8][3] The derivative lymphomatosis, a diffuse disorder arising in lymphoid tissue, is from the early 20th century.[5]

Timeline

  • 1873 – a tumour with the structure of a lymphatic gland.[2][4] Etymonline dates the word to 1867.[3]
  • early 20th century – lymphomatosis, a diffuse disorder of lymphoid tissue.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tumour, usually malignant, of lymphoid tissue; any of several cancers that arise in the lymph nodes, spleen or other lymphoid tissue: She was treated for lymphoma last year.[4][8][5][7]

Word family

  • lymphomatoid
  • lymphomatous
  • lymphomatosis

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b Stedman's Medical Dictionary, Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
  8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins