Where does “chancre” come from?
Chancre comes from French chancre, from Latin cancer meaning crab or tumor, from Ancient Greek καρκίνος meaning crab, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker-.
chancre (English): Skin lesion, sometimes associated with certain...
Definitions
- Skin lesion, sometimes associated with certain...
Ancestry of “chancre”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | chancre | lobster, crab; canker, chancre |
| 2 | Middle French | chancre | cancer |
| 3 | Old French | chancre | — |
| 4 | Latin | cancer | a crab; a tumor, cancer; a lattice, grid, or... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | kankros | crab |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | karkros | enclosure, barrier |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥-kr̥- | circular |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)ker- | to cut off; to turn, bend |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | sek- | to cut, cut off, sever |