carcinoma

Forms

carcinōma n (genitive carcinōmatis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek καρκίνωμα (karkínōma).^[2][1][3] The Greek word is related to καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab; ulcer”).^[3] L&S notes that the native Latin word for the disease is cancer.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Cato's De agri cultura (234–149 BC),^[4][5][3] where crushed cabbage is recommended for an ulcer that has formed in the breasts.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In medical writers such as Celsus and Pliny the Elder it means an ulcer or tumour, which the OLD says was perhaps sometimes malignant;^[2][4] the TLL equates it with the disease cancer.^[5] Pliny has the dative and ablative plural carcinomatis.^[2][6] Suetonius reports that Augustus used it as a term of abuse for his daughter Julia and his grandson Agrippa, for their incurable wickedness.^[4][6]

It is the source of Italian carcinoma^[7] and of German Karzinom.^[3]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato recommends a remedy for an ulcer in the breasts.^[5][3]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it in his medical work.^[4][7][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it several times.^[2][4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ulcer or tumour, perhaps sometimes a malignant one; a cancer.^[2][4]
2. (figurative) A term of abuse for a person of incurable wickedness.^[4][6]

Related words

• cancer
• English carcinoma

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier