Etymology

acupuncture

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Today it means: The insertion of needles into the (living) tissue of the body affecting the Qi or energy along energetic pathways of the body called meridians. This modality is traditionally used as a form of internal medical treating all disease and illnesses, in Western countries it is widely used for the purposes of pain relief. Full definition →

New Latin acūpūnctūra ← Latin pūnctūra ← Proto-Italic *pungō
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱ-
  2. Proto-Italic*akus
  3. Latinacus
  4. Proto-Indo-European*pewǵ-
  5. Proto-Italic*pungō
  6. Latinpungō
  7. Latinpūnctus
  8. Latinpūnctūra
  9. New Latinacūpūnctūra
  10. English todayacupuncture

Learned borrowing from New Latin acūpūnctūra, from Latin acus + pūnctūra. First attested in 1684. By surface analysis, acu- + puncture.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.