Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Urethra
/jʊˈriːθrə/noun
The tube carrying urine from the bladder out of the body.
The Greek roots
οὐρήθρα
ourḗthra
urinary passage
Literally: “urine channel”
Follow a root:οὐρήθρα1 word
The story of the word
Greek physicians already had ourḗthra for the passage, built on oûron, urine. The ureter is a different tube from a different Greek noun, ourētḗr, and confusing the two is the classic first-year anatomy slip: ureters run from kidney to bladder, the urethra runs from bladder to daylight. Male and female versions differ enough in length that the whole pattern of urinary infection follows from it.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
ureterureadiuresisenuresis
In a sentence
The catheter is passed along the urethra into the bladder.