Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Symptom
A sign indicating the presence of a disease.
The Greek roots
σύν
sýn
together with
πίπτειν
píptein
to fall
Literally: “a falling together”
The story of the word
A sýmptōma is something that 'befalls' you alongside an illness — a co-occurring sign.
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
In a sentence
A high fever was the first symptom to appear.