Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Dermatology
/ˌdɜːrməˈtɑːlədʒi/noun
The branch of medicine dealing with the skin and its diseases.
The Greek roots
δέρμα
dérma
skin, hide
-λογία
-logía
study, account
Literally: “study of the skin”
The story of the word
δέρμα, stem δέρματ-, comes from δέρω, to flay: the skin is named as the thing stripped off, which is a butcher's way of seeing it rather than a doctor's. The compound was put together in 1819, early in the run of specialities that also gave English cardiology and neurology. Pachyderm, hypodermic and taxidermy all carry the same hide.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1819
Same family
epidermishypodermictaxidermypachyderm
In a sentence
Dermatology has a nine-month waiting list and a photograph often settles it faster.