Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Edema
/ɪˈdiːmə/noun
Excess fluid trapped in body tissue, causing visible swelling.
The Greek roots
οἴδημα
oídēma
a swelling
Literally: “a swelling”
Follow a root:οἴδημα1 word
The story of the word
οἴδημα comes from οἰδέω, to swell, and entered English medicine in the fifteenth century with its Greek shape intact; British spelling still keeps the oe. The word describes a mechanism rather than a disease. Fluid has left the vessels and is sitting in the tissue, and the reason might be a heart, a kidney, a missing protein or a long flight.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 15th century
Same family
myxedemalymphedemapapilledema
In a sentence
Press the shin for ten seconds; if the dent stays, that is pitting edema.