renal

Etymology

It is borrowed from French rénal, recorded in Middle French from 1314, and directly borrowed from Late Latin rēnālis (“of the kidneys”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a 5th-century word^[2] formed from Latin rēn (“kidney”), plural rēnēs, and the suffix -ālis.^[2][6][5] The Latin noun is of uncertain or obscure origin;^[3][4][7] Etymonline notes possible cognates in Old Irish aru (“kidney, gland”) and Welsh arenn (“kidney, testicle”), and perhaps Lithuanian strėnos (“loins”) and Latvian streina (“loins”), citing de Vaan for a shift of meaning from "loins" to "kidneys".^[3] The same Latin word came through French into English as reins.^{[2][8][9][10]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the kidneys: 1656, in Blount's Glossographia, under Vein.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective has kept its first meaning.^[2][8] In anatomy it was used as a noun for a renal blood vessel, especially the renal artery, from 1721.^[2] It is the usual adjective in medical phrases such as renal colic, pain caused by a kidney condition, and renal dialysis, which does the work of failed kidneys.^[8]

Timeline

• 1656 – of the kidneys, in Blount's Glossographia.^[2][4][5]
• 1721 – noun, a renal artery or vein.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or affecting the kidneys, or located near them: renal failure.^[7][5][2][8]

Noun

1. A renal blood vessel, especially a renal artery.^[2]

Word family

• adrenal
• interrenal
• postrenal
• prerenal
• suprarenal

Related words

• reins

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray