Etymologically
Log in

diabeticus

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word diabeticus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1100s Tractatus de aegritudinum curatione More words from the 11th century
Ultimate origin
Latin diabētēs
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek διαβήτης (diabḗtēs)
Latin diabētēs
English diabetes
Latin diabeticus
English diabetic

Forms

diabēticus (feminine diabētica, neuter diabēticum); first and second declension; also spelled dyabēticus.[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin diabētēs (“diabetes”) + -icus.[1] The base is borrowed from Ancient Greek διαβήτης (diabḗtēs);[3][4] the eLexicon Polonorum compares Greek διαβητικός (diabētikós).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates its first use, as a noun for a person suffering from diabetes, to the 12th-century Tractatus de aegritudinum curatione, which lists the signs found in such patients.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

Medieval medical writers used it as an adjective in diabetica passio, the excessive discharge of urine,[2][6][5] as a masculine noun for the patient, and as a feminine noun for the disease itself.[2][6] English diabetic is dated from 1715.[7]

Timeline

  • 12th century – The Tractatus de aegritudinum curatione uses it of diabetic patients.[1][2]
  • before 1250 – Latham records the adjective.[1]
  • 1715 – English has diabetic.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Medieval Latin, medicine) Relating to diabetes;[2][6][5] diabetica passio, diabetes.[2][6][5]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin, medicine, masculine) A diabetic, a person with diabetes.[2][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin, medicine, feminine) Diabetes.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  5. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  6. ^ a b c d e f 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
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Diabeticus.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/diabeticus. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·