carcinoma etymology

Etymology:

carcinoma (n.)

• from Greek karkinoma ("cancerous ulcer, malignant tumor")
• from karkinos ("crab")
• the word was used because the veins surrounding cancerous tumors resemble the legs of a crab

Meaning:

A malignant tumor that arises from epithelial cells (cells that line body surfaces and organs). Carcinomas are the most common type of cancer, accounting for about 80% of all cancer cases.

Origin:

The Greek word karkinoma was first used to describe malignant tumors in the Hippocratic Corpus (a collection of medical writings from ancient Greece) around the 5th century BC. The Romans adopted the term as carcinoma, which eventually entered the English language in the 16th century.

carcinoma relate terms

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