Etymology

-holism

Today it means: A form of addiction, either a physical or obsessive dependency. Full definition →

English alcoholism ← Middle English alcofol ← Medieval Latin alcoho
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The story

  1. Akkadian𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)
  2. Aramaicכוחלא (kuḥlā)
  3. Arabicكُحْل (kuḥl)
  4. Andalusian Arabicكُحُول (kuḥūl)
  5. Medieval Latinalcoho
  6. Middle Englishalcofol
  7. Englishalcohol
  8. Englishalcoholism
  9. English today-holism

Rebracketing of alcoholism, the name of one of the first addictions to be widely identified both medically and socially. It should be noted that the word alcoholism is broken up into the root, alcohol, and the suffix -ism, not alco and -holism. The suffix -holism is thus a result of false splitting.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.