Etymology

black bile

Today it means: One of the four humours of ancient and mediaeval physiology, that was believed to be secreted by the kidneys and spleen and to cause melancholy and sadness when present in excess. Full definition →

Latin ātra bīlis ← Ancient Greek μελαγχολία
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromμελαγχολία
  2. Latin · calque ofātra bīlis
  3. English todayblack bile

Calque of Latin ātra bīlis, itself a calque of Ancient Greek μελαγχολία (melankholía).

Words from the same roots

Latinātra bīlis all →

atrabilarianatrabiliaryatrabilious

Ancient Greekμελαγχολία all →

melancholy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.