English
tumor
Tumor comes from Latin tumor ‘swelling’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tewh₂-‘to swell’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tumēōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtumeō‘to be swollen, turgid, distended, puffed out or inflated, to swell’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtumor‘swelling’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tumour
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 2022tumor
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tewh₂-‘to swell’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tumēōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtumeō‘to be swollen, turgid, distended, puffed out or inflated, to swell’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtumor‘swelling’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tumour
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 2022tumor
Earliest quotation: 2022, Carl Zimmer, A New Approach to Spotting Tumors: Look for Their Microbes: “It’s possible that some microbes don’t just take up…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- ‘to swell’
butter, tomb, soma, truffle, trifle, tyrosine, tumultuous, tuff, tuber, madrasa, tumult, turgid, tufa, 43 more
through Middle English tumour
Today it means
noun An abnormal growth; differential diagnosis includes abscess, metaplasia, and neoplasia.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- / tumor