hypochondria English · revision 1234

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌhaɪpə(ʊ)ˈkɒndriə/ ''(UK)''; /ˌhaɪ.poʊˈkɒn.dri.ə/, /ˌhaɪ.pəˈkɑn.dri.ə/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|hypochondria|t=the upper abdomen]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|ὑποχόνδρια|tr=hupokhóndria]], the neuter plural of ''hupokhondrios'' “under the cartilage of the breastbone”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) [[af|grc|ὑπό|χόνδρος|tr1=hupó|tr2=khóndros|t1=under|t2=cartilage]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) The upper abdomen, holding the liver, gall bladder and spleen, was long believed to be the seat of melancholy.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) In Middle English the medical term appeared as ''ipocondrie'' or ''ypocandria''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The regions of the abdomen just below the ribs on either side (late 14th century; 1563 in the plural form ''hypochondria'').^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Because the organs of these regions were thought to produce melancholy, the word came to mean depression or low spirits without a real cause, a sense recorded from 1668.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Etymonline traces the narrowing to an unfounded belief that one is ill to the 1790s writings of the Edinburgh physician William Cullen, with the sense established by 1816;^(Etymonline) Barnhart dates it to 1839 and notes the influence of ''hypochondriasis'' (1766).^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 14th century – ''ipocondrie'', the upper sides of the abdomen.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1563 – ''hypochondria'', the viscera of these regions, seat of melancholy.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1668 – melancholy or low spirits without real cause.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1816 – unfounded belief that one is ill (Etymonline; 1839 in Barnhart).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A persistent, excessive [[anxiety|alt=worry]] that one has or will get a serious illness, often with real discomfort though no disease is present.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' [[melancholy|alt=Melancholy]] or low spirits.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Plural of ''hypochondrium'', the upper side regions of the [[abdomen]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chondro-]]

+ * [[hypo-]]

+ * [[hypochondriac]]

+ * [[hypochondriacal]]

+ * [[hypochondriasis]]

+ * [[hypochondrium]]

+ * [[hype]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}