tenesmus

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromτεινεσμός“vain endeavor to evacuate”
2. Medieval Latin · borrowed fromtēnesmus
3. English todaytenesmus

Borrowing from Medieval Latin tēnesmus, from Ancient Greek τεινεσμός (teinesmós, “vain endeavor to evacuate”), from τείνω (teínō, “to stretch, to pull tight”) + -εσμός (-esmós, nominal suffix).