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renalis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word renalis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
300s Chiron More words from the 3rd century
Ultimate origin
Latin rēn
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin rēn
Latin rēnālis
English renal

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [reːˈnaː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈnaː.lis][1]

Forms

rēnālis (neuter rēnāle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin rēn (“kidney”) + -ālis.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the treatise known as Chiron (4th century AD), which names a disease morbus renalis that makes the loins and kidneys weak.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Caelius Aurelianus calls the disease of the kidneys that the Greeks name nephritis passio renalis,[2][5] and Cassius Felix glosses nefretica passio with it.[2]

As a neuter noun it named a part of the body next to the kidneys, in the Pseudo-Cyprianic Cena, and a garment: Isidore of Seville says that the loincloth called lumbare is by some called renale, because it is tied round the kidneys.[2] British medieval Latin has both the adjective and the noun for a loincloth or breeches.[6] English renal (1650s) comes from French and directly from this Late Latin word.[3]

Timeline

  • 4th century AD – Chiron speaks of a morbus renalis.[2][4]
  • 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses passio renalis for nephritis.[5][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville gives renale as a name of the loincloth.[2][4]
  • 1650s – English borrows it as renal.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the kidneys, renal.[5][2][6]

Noun

  1. (neuter) A part of the body next to the kidneys.[2]
  2. (neuter) A loincloth or girdle worn round the loins.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c 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
Cite this entry

“Renalis.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/renalis. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·