Where does “herpes” come from?
Herpes comes from Latin herpes, from Ancient Greek ἕρπης, derived from the verb ἕρπειν meaning to creep or crawl, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European serp-.
herpes (English): A viral infection, caused by Human...
Definitions
- A viral infection, caused by Human...
Ancestry of “herpes”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | herpes | herpes; an unknown sort of animal, perhaps a kind... |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | ἕρπης | herpes, shingles |
| 3 | Latin | angina | choking, suffocation; quinsy, tonsillitis |
| 4 | Latin | angere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 5 | Latin | ango | I bind, draw, press together; choke, throttle,... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | anɣō | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂enǵʰ- | to constrict, tighten, compress; narrow, tight;... |