cancer

cancer · noun, adjective¹

1. Latin · borrowed fromcancer“crab”
2. English todaycancer

Borrowed from Latin cancer (“crab”), a calque of Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab; ulcer; cancer”), possibly cognate, applied to cancerous tumors because of a supposed resemblence between their enlarged veins and the legs of a crab. Doublet of canker and chancre.

Cancer · proper noun, noun²

1. Sumerian · derived from𒀯𒀠𒈜“crab; name of constellation”
2. Ancient Greek · calque ofΚαρκίνος“crab”
3. Latin · learned borrowing fromcancer“crab”
4. English todayCancer

Learned borrowing from Latin cancer (“crab”), calque of Ancient Greek Καρκίνος (Karkínos, “crab”), calque of Akkadian 𒀀𒇻𒌅 (allutu, “crab”), from Sumerian 𒀯𒀠𒈜 (ᵐᵘˡAL.LUL, “crab; name of constellation”).

Words from the same roots