It is not always for our pleasure that we encounter at times in our life these Latin words which belong to the medical vocabulary.
We find some of them, who have gone through the centuries, whether in the field of anatomy, pathology, surgery, pharmacology, therapy, but it is in bacteriology that Latin is king - indeed bacteria all have a Latin name, such as Escherichia coli, the famous coli bacillus, or Staphylococcus aureus, the no less famous staphylococcus aureus.
Countless medical terms
We will forget all the innumerable medical terms, those which make use of a Latin prefix or suffix in their compositions and those which have undergone a minor facelift such excipient de
excipere
, to receive, dorsalgia de
dorsualis
, relative to the back - the word “
dos
” comes from (1080) the popular Latin
dossum
, alteration of the Latin
dorsum
–, intestine of
intestinalus
and its “
escort
”: hail of
gracilis
, of graceless leanness, papilla of papilla
,
nipple of the breast, and, by extension, small protruding eminence on the surface of a mucous membrane of the skin, retina from medieval Latin,
retina
, the sensitive membrane of the eye, saliva saliva
, dens tooth,
medicus
doctor ,
musculus
muscle ,
tumere
tumor
, be swollen.
Let's stop our enumeration there to spare the hypochondriacs and come back to our topic following the expression of the judge in
La Farce de Maître Pathelin
.
After having appropriated the first written sources of medicine from the acquaintances of the great Greek doctors Asclepiades, Galen, Dioscorides, etc., "
it was not until the 1st century of our era that a doctor by the name of Aulus Cornelius Celsus nicknamed the
Latin Hippocrates
, wrote the first medical encyclopedia in Latin,
De Medicina
, in which he Latinized certain Greek terms by adding a Latin ending to them.
» (1)
Replacement of Greek by Latin?
It was during the Renaissance that the Latin terms began to truly replace the Greek ones.
“
In the following centuries, the works and the great medical discoveries were always translated into Latin.
In the major European countries, the national language only gradually took precedence over Latin (note that it was not until the 1980s that
British doctors
abandoned Latin in favor of English on their prescriptions).
In France, it was not until the First Empire that medical education was given in French.
» (2)
In this list, some examples, more or less usual, of those which have come down to us without taking a wrinkle, rough in shape or almost:
Colostrum
from
colostrum
, the first milk of mammals.
Milk secreted the first days after childbirth.
Fascia
fascia
,
band.
Aponeurotic formation composed of connective tissue.
Hallux valgus
, deformation of the big toe which goes towards the neighboring toe, with the appearance of a "bunion" at the level of the angulation.
Genu valgum
from
genu
, knee, and
valgum
, which has the legs turned outwards.
Hiatus
of
hiatus
, opening.
In anatomy, designates a narrow and elongated orifice.
Macula
de
macula
, spot.
Nevus
nevus
,
spot on the body.
Scholarly name of the mole.
Princeps
de
princeps
, the first.
Princeps refers to the trade name given initially to a drug, unlike a generic.
Prolapse
, past participle of
prolabor
, to fall, to sag.
Recessus
of
recessus
, retreat.
Anatomical term designating a cavity.
Sebum
sebum
,
tallow.
Secretion of the sebaceous glands.
Sine
of
sine
, curvature, concavity.
Anatomical term for a natural cavity.
Uterus
of
uterus
, breast, womb of the mother.
Tibia
of
tibia
.
Leg bones.
volvulus
de
volver
, roll.
Twisting of part of the digestive tract on itself.
Raptus
of
raptus
, abduction.
Violent nervous crisis or rush of blood followed by haemorrhage.
Everyone will understand why we will not treat: virus virus, venom poison...
Note: you can consult the third international colloquium on medical Latin, held in Saint-Étienne in 1989, which had set itself the objective of studying the birth of Latin as a medical language.
(1) and (2): “A short history of medical Latin as a scientific language”.
Excerpt from
Give Us Our Daily Latin
.
Find the entire book on our Figaro Store.
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