atrophia

Forms

atrophia f (genitive atrophiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía).^[1][2][3][4] The DMLBS notes that in medieval texts it was confused with ἀτροπία (atropía).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Celsus still writes the word in Greek letters.^[2][5][6] As a Latin word it appears in the medical writers of Late Antiquity, Caelius Aurelianus (5th century AD) and Theodorus Priscianus, for a wasting away of the body.^[2][5][7][6]

Semantic evolution

Caelius Aurelianus introduces it as a Greek term, for the failing of nourishment “which the Greeks call atrophian”.^[5][7] Isidore of Seville lists it among diseases.^[2][8] The plain Latin word for such wasting was tabes.^[2]

Medieval physicians used it for emaciation and wasting,^[3][4] and also for loss of appetite.^[3] An Old English gloss renders it meteafliung.^[4] English borrowed the word in the 1610s, through French, as atrophy.^[9]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus writes the word in Greek letters.^[2][5][6]
• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it as a Greek medical term.^[5][7][6]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville lists it among diseases.^[2][8][6]
• 1610s – Borrowed into English, through French, as atrophy.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin, medicine) A wasting consumption of the body from lack of nourishment, atrophy.^{[2][7][8][10]}
2. (Medieval Latin, medicine) Emaciation; also loss of appetite.^[3][4]

Related words

• English atrophy

Usage notes

Lewis and Short note that the pure Latin word for this wasting is tabes.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson