Where does “nosocomial” come from?
I need to work through this etymology chain carefully, working backwards from the headword. The chain given is: English -al | English aldehyde | Ancient Greek νόσος | Proto-Indo-European kem(H)- Wait, let me reconsider. The chain notation "newest to oldest" should read right to left as oldest to newest: - Proto-Indo-European kem(H)- (oldest) - Ancient Greek νόσος (nósos) - English aldehyde (?) - English -al (newest) This chain seems problematic. "Aldehyde" doesn't fit in an etymology for "nosocomial." Let me reconsider what's being shown. Actually, looking at "nosocomial" - it comes from Ancient Greek νόσος (nósos) meaning "disease" + -komai (hospital/place). The "-al" is an
nosocomial (English): Arising from hospital treatment or environment;...
Definitions
- Arising from hospital treatment or environment;...
Ancestry of “nosocomial”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | nosocomīum | hospital, infirmary |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | νοσοκομεῖον | infirmary, hospital |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | νοσοκομέω | to be under medical treatment |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | νόσος | sickness, disease, illness; plague; misery,... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -λογία | Base for nouns denoting the study of something,... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | λόγος | That which is said: word, sentence, speech,... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | λέγω | I put in order, arrange, gather; I choose, count,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ- | to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to... |