Etymology

nausea

nau·sea
N1A1U1S1E1A1

Today it means: A feeling of illness or discomfort in the digestive system, usually characterized by a strong urge to vomit. Full definition →

Middle English nausea ← Latin nausea ← Ancient Greek ναυσία
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)neh₂-
  2. Ancient Greek · derived fromναυσία“sea-sickness”
  3. Latin · derived fromnausea
  4. Middle English · inherited fromnausea
  5. English todaynausea

From Middle English nausea, a borrowing from Latin nausea, from Ancient Greek ναυσία (nausía, “sea-sickness”), from ναῦς (naûs, “ship”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂-. Displaced native Old English wlǣtta.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekναυσία all →

nauseate

Proto-Indo-European*(s)neh₂- all →

nurserynauseate

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.