Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Stomatitis
/ˌstoʊməˈtaɪtɪs/noun
Inflammation of the lining of the mouth, from infection, injury, deficiency or treatment.
The Greek roots
στόμα
stóma
mouth, opening
-ῖτις
-îtis
inflammation of
Literally: “mouth inflammation”
The story of the word
The -itis ending began as an adjective agreeing with νόσος, disease, so arthritis started life as "arthritic [disease]" and then swallowed its own noun. στόμα names the mouth of a river and the edge of a blade as readily as the mouth of an animal, which is why a surgical stoma is any created opening. Clinicians keep it separate from gingivitis, which stops at the gums.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
stomastomacharthritisanastomosis
In a sentence
Chemotherapy brought on a stomatitis severe enough that she could only take liquids.