Where does “abscess” come from?

Abscess comes from Latin abscessus, the past participle of abscedo meaning "to go away," from ab meaning "away" combined with cedo meaning "to go," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂epó meaning "off" or "away."

abscess (English): A cavity caused by tissue destruction, usually...

Definitions

  1. A cavity caused by tissue destruction, usually...

Ancestry of “abscess”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinabscessusdeparted; withdrawn; retreated
2Latinabsaway from; from; away
3Proto-Albanianaps—
4LatinApisA seaport town of Egypt situated at the borders with Marmarica
5Ancient GreekἌπις—
6Copticϩⲁⲡⲉthe Apis bull, a bull worshipped as a herald of the gods (first Ptah, then Osiris, then Atum)
7Egyptianḥpthe god Apis

Words derived from “abscess”

Every word from Egyptian ḥp →Every word from Coptic ϩⲁⲡⲉ →Every word from Ancient Greek Ἄπις →