Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Hyperthermia
/ˌhaɪpərˈθɜrmiə/noun
A dangerous rise in body temperature above the normal range.
The Greek roots
ὑπέρ
hypér
over, above
θέρμη
thérmē
heat
Literally: “over-heat”
The story of the word
One letter separates it from hypothermia in English, while in Greek the two prefixes are unmistakable opposites, ὑπέρ over and ὑπό under. Θέρμη is heat, the root of thermometer and of the vacuum flask sold as a Thermos. Fever is not hyperthermia: in fever the body raises its own target temperature deliberately, while in hyperthermia the target holds and the heat defeats it anyway, which is why marathons in August have cooling tents.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
hypothermiathermometerthermalisotherm
In a sentence
Two runners were treated for hyperthermia before the ten-kilometre mark.