arthritis

Forms

arthrītis f (genitive arthrītidis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀρθρῖτις (arthrîtis),^[1][2][3] the feminine of an adjective meaning “of the joints”, from ἄρθρον (árthron, “joint”).^[4][5] Köbler traces the Greek word to Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to fit”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius lists it among the ailments of certain regions, beside heaviness, cough and pleurisy, meaning a disease of the joints.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The native Latin term was articularis morbus.^[2][6] Porphyrio uses arthritis in his commentary on Horace,^[6][5] and Caelius Aurelianus distinguishes podagra, pain of the feet only, from arthritis, which affects all or many joints.^[7][8] A glossary explains it as pain in the joints.^[7]

In Medieval Latin it meant gout.^[9][3][10] English took arthritis from medical Latin in the 16th century.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius lists it among regional diseases.^[2][5]
• second half of the 2nd century AD – Porphyrio uses it in his commentary on Horace.^[6][5]
• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus distinguishes it from podagra.^[7][5]
• 1540s – Borrowed into English as arthritis.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A disease of the joints, arthritis.^[2][7][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Gout.^[9][3][10]

Related words

• podagra
• English arthritis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson