Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Peritonitis
/ˌpɛrɪtəˈnaɪtɪs/noun
Inflammation of the membrane lining the abdominal cavity, usually from a perforated organ or infection.
The Greek roots
περί
perí
around
τείνειν
teínein
to stretch
-ῖτις
-îtis
inflammation of
Literally: “inflammation of the stretched-around membrane”
The story of the word
περιτόναιον is a precise piece of anatomical description: the thing stretched around the viscera. Greek anatomists could see and name the membrane centuries before anyone understood why breaching it was so often fatal. A ruptured appendix causes it, which is why abdominal pain that suddenly eases and then worsens is the sign surgeons dread.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 18th century
Same family
peritoneumperimetertetanustone
In a sentence
By the time he reached theatre the peritonitis was established.