Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Gastric
/ˈɡæstrɪk/adjective
Belonging to or affecting the stomach.
The Greek roots
γαστήρ
gastḗr
belly, stomach
Literally: “of the belly”
Follow a root:γαστήρ7 words
The story of the word
Gastḗr in Homer is the paunch, and often the appetite behind it: to be ruled by your gastēr was a standing insult. Seventeenth-century anatomists narrowed it to the organ. Gastropod, coined for snails, means belly-foot, which is exactly what you see when one crosses glass.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Modern Latin → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
gastronomygastropodgastritisgastroenteritis
In a sentence
The gastric lining repairs itself every few days.
She was treated for a gastric ulcer.