Etymologically
Log in

neurology

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 02:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /n(j)ʊ(ə)ˈɹɒləd͡ʒi/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin neurologia,[2][3][4][5][6] which the OED takes from Ancient Greek νευρολογία (neurología), used by Thomas Willis in a Latin context in his “Cerebri Anatome” (1664);[7] Klein thinks Willis probably coined the word.[8] It is formed from νευρο- (neuro-), the combining form of νεῦρον (neûron, “nerve, sinew”),[7][3][9] and -λογία (-logía, “study”).[7][6][8] French had névrologie (1690) and neurologie (1691).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The systematic arrangement of the nerves: 1670, in Henry Stubbe.[7] Barnhart dates the word, as neurologie, to 1681,[2] and Etymonline to the 1680s.[6]

Semantic evolution

At first the word was anatomical: the arrangement of the nerves, or the nervous system itself (until 1830); it also meant a treatise on the nervous system between 1704 and 1801.[7] Johnson (1755) defined it as a description of the nerves.[9] The modern sense, the science of the nervous system, is recorded from 1878,[7] and it has since come to mean especially the branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the nervous system.[7][4] The derivatives neurologist (1832) and neurological (1755) are older than that sense.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 1670 – the arrangement of the nerves; the nervous system (obsolete by 1830).[7]
  • 1681 – neurologie.[2]
  • 1704 – a treatise on the nervous system (obsolete by 1801).[7]
  • 1755 – the adjective neurological.[6]
  • 1832 – neurologist.[2]
  • 1878 – the science of the nervous system; later the branch of medicine dealing with its diseases.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The branch of medicine that deals with the nervous system and its disorders: She specialized in neurology after her residency.[10][3][7]
  2. The scientific study of the structure and functions of the nervous system.[3][10]

Word family

  • neurologic
  • neurologically
  • neurologist
  • neuritis
  • neurodegenerative
  • neuropathy
  • neuropsychology
  • neuroscience
  • neurosurgery

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b 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 e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins