neuropathy

Etymology

It is formed from English neuro- + -pathy.^[2][3][4][5] The first element goes back to Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “sinew, string; nerve”),^[3] and the second to -πάθεια (-pátheia), from πάθος (páthos, “suffering”).^[6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged treats it as a word of the international scientific vocabulary.^[7] The OED compares French névropathie, recorded in 1845, and Italian neuropatia, recorded in 1828, and notes that its first source, Mayne, also gives a Latin form New Latin neuropathia.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Disease of the nervous system: Etymonline dates the word to 1827.^[3] The OED's first record is from 1857, in R. G. Mayne's Expository Lexicon, for nervous disease or a case of it.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word first covered any disease or disorder of the nervous system;^[2][3] the OED now defines it as chiefly a disease of the peripheral nerves,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford describes such a disease as typically causing numbness and weakness.^[5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also uses it for a bodily condition, such as muscular atrophy, that arises from degeneration of nervous tissue.^[7] The related noun neuropathist, recorded from the mid 19th century for a neuropathologist, is now rare or obsolete.^[5]

Timeline

• 1857 – disease of the nervous system, or a case of it.^[2][7] Etymonline dates the word to 1827.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A disease or dysfunction of the nerves, now especially of the peripheral nerves, often causing numbness and weakness: Her diabetes had led to neuropathy in both feet.^[2][5][1]
2. Any abnormal state of the nervous system, especially one involving degeneration.^[7][9]

Word family

• neuropathic
• neuropathically
• peripheral neuropathy

Related words

• neuropathology
• neurosis
• nerve
• neuron
• pathos
• pathology

References

1. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins