Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Gangrene
/ˈɡæŋɡriːn/noun
Death and decay of body tissue caused by lost blood supply or infection.
The Greek roots
γάγγραινα
gángraina
an eating sore
Literally: “the gnawing sore”
Follow a root:γάγγραινα1 word
The story of the word
The Greek word comes from a verb meaning to gnaw, and describes the sore as an animal eating its way through flesh. Despite the sound and the colour of the wound, gangrene has no connection with green: the resemblance is an accident of English. Latin took it as gangraena and French softened it into the form we use.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → French → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
gangrenous
In a sentence
Without circulation the toes developed gangrene within days.