oncology

Etymology

It is formed from English onco- (“tumour”) + -logy (“study of”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} as an international scientific term;^[7] its coiner, R. G. Mayne, also gave the Latin form oncologia.^[2] The combining form onco- is a New Latin adaptation of Ancient Greek ὄγκος (ónkos, “mass, bulk”),^[4][7][8] which also meant a swelling or weight,^[3] and in Byzantine Greek, from the 4th century, a tumour.^[2] Etymonline calls the Greek word of uncertain origin,^[3] while the OED, Merriam-Webster and Barnhart relate it to ἐνεγκεῖν (enenkeîn, “to carry”),^[2][7][4] and the American Heritage Dictionary to the Indo-European root *nek- of enough.^[8][7] The ending -logy goes back through Latin -logia to Ancient Greek -λογία (-logía).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The study of tumours, recorded in 1857 in R. G. Mayne's Expository Lexicon of medical and scientific terms.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its first meaning, the branch of medicine dealing with tumours, and the OED's revised definition adds that it deals with their study and treatment especially by means other than surgery.^[2] English formations with onco- go back to the early 18th century, with oncotomy, and German, French and Italian formed words with it in the 19th century.^[2] Partridge notes that it was the Modern Greek and medical sense "tumour", rather than ancient "bulk", that gave oncology.^[9] The derivatives oncologist and the chiefly American oncologic are recorded from the early 20th century, oncological from the late 19th.^[5]

Timeline

• 1857 – the study of tumours.^[2][3][4][7]
• late 19th century – oncological.^[5]
• early 20th century – oncologist.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The branch of medicine that deals with the study, classification and treatment of tumours and cancer.^[10][2][7]

Word family

• oncological
• oncologist

Related words

• oncogene
• oncogenesis
• oncogenic
• proto-oncogene
• onco-
• -logy
• enough

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
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. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins