nosocomial

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kem(H)-“to be tired; to exert oneself”
2. Ancient Greek · derived fromνοσοκομεῖον“hospital, infirmary”
3. Late Latin · learned borrowing fromnosocomīum“hospital, infirmary”
4. English todaynosocomial

Learned borrowing from Late Latin nosocomīum (“hospital, infirmary”) + English -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Nosocomīum is borrowed from Ancient Greek νοσοκομεῖον (nosokomeîon, “hospital, infirmary”), from νοσοκομέω (nosokoméō, “to tend the sick”) + -εῖον (-eîon, suffix forming nouns denoting places); νοσοκομέω (nosokoméō) is from νόσος (nósos, “disease, illness, sickness”) (further etymology uncertain) + κομέω (koméō, “to take care of, look after, tend”) (from Proto-Indo-European *kem(H)- (“to be tired; to exert oneself”)).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from early 19th c. Of an infection or its cause: arising from the environment of, or treatment in, a hospital.