cystique

Forms

cystique (plural cystiques)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French cyst- + -ique, from Ancient Greek κύστις (kústis, “bladder”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Etymonline gives the intermediate New Latin cysticus.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Paré uses it about 1560 of a branch of the portal vein going to the gall bladder: Et est appellée ceste distribution cystique ou bouteillere double (“and this distribution is called cystic, or double bottle-like”).^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

From anatomy, where it relates both to the gall bladder and to the urinary bladder, the word spread to medicine and zoology.^[2][6] In 1823 a medical dictionary records oxide cystique, in 1863 Littré gives tumeur cystique for a tumour made of many cysts, and about 1900 the word was used of the vers cystiques, tapeworms with a bladder-like larval stage.^[2][6] In modern French it chiefly relates to the gall bladder, as in canal cystique; for the urinary bladder it is rare.^[4][5]

English cystic (1630s, “pertaining to the gall bladder”) was borrowed from the French word.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1560 – Paré speaks of the veine porte cystique.^[2][6]
• 1630s – English borrows it as cystic.^[7]
• 1805 – Cuvier writes of the canal cystique.^[2]
• 1823 – Oxide cystique is recorded in a medical dictionary.^[2]
• 1863 – Littré records tumeur cystique.^[2]
• 1889–1901 – The Dictionnaire général uses it of parasitic worms.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (anatomy) Relating to the gall bladder: canal cystique, calculs cystiques.^[4][2][5]
2. (anatomy, rare) Relating to the urinary bladder; synonym of vésical.^[2][4][5]
3. (zoology) Vers cystiques: tapeworms in their bladder-like larval stage.^[2][6]
4. (surgery) Made up of cysts: tumeur cystique.^[6][2]

Related words

• kyste
• vésical
• English cystic

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com