English
halitosis
Halitosis comes from Latin hālitus ‘breath, exhalation’, and goes back to Ancient Greek νόσος ‘sickness, disease, illness’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνόσος‘sickness, disease, illness’literally ‘disease’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhālitus‘breath, exhalation’literally ‘whiff, breath’
- Englishearliest quotation 2004halitosis
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνόσος‘sickness, disease, illness’literally ‘disease’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhālitus‘breath, exhalation’literally ‘whiff, breath’
- Englishearliest quotation 2004halitosis
Earliest quotation: 2004, Dicken Weatherby, Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective: “Bad breath or halitosis is an indication of a…”
The story
Coined by doctor Joseph William Howe in 1874 and described as being derived from the Latin hālitus (literally “whiff, breath”) and the Ancient Greek νόσος (nósos, literally “disease”). It can be also understood as combination of the Latin hālitus and the English suffix -osis.
Every English word from Ancient Greek νόσος
Today it means
noun The condition of having stale or foul-smelling breath.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek νόσος / halitosis