Etymology

fomes

F4O1M3E1S1

Today it means: Morbid matter created by a disease. Full definition →

Latin fōmes
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromfōmes“fomite”
  2. English todayfomes

From medical Latin fōmes (“fomite”), a figurative extension of its original sense of kindling, tinder, etc. Gradually supplanted in use by fomite, a mistaken backformation of its plural form fomites, from Latin fōmitēs.

Words from the same roots

Latinfōmes all →

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.