tumor

Forms

• tumour (UK)

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin tumor (“a swelling”),^[2][3][4] from tumeō, to swell,^[2][3][1] from a root also seen in thumb.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A morbid swelling in the body: probably before 1425, as tumour, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively, in the 17th and 18th centuries, tumor was used of swollen pride or bombast.^[3] The modern medical sense, an abnormal growth of tissue from uncontrolled cell multiplication, is now the main one.^[5][1] Tumorous is from 1863.^[3] Tumor is the American spelling, and British English writes tumour.^[1]

Timeline

• before 1425 – a morbid swelling.^[2][3]
• 17th–18th centuries – swollen pride.^[3]
• 1863 – tumorous.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An abnormal mass of tissue formed by uncontrolled growth of cells; a neoplasm.
2. A swelling.

Word family

• tumoral
• tumorlike
• tumorous
• antitumor
• tumorigenic
• tumorigenesis
• tumor necrosis factor
• Wilms' tumor

Related words

• contumely
• tumescent
• tumid
• tumult
• thumb
• tuber

References

1. ^ a b c d e Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2009), 5th ed., Harlow: Pearson Longman
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin