Etymograph

English

carcinoma

Carcinoma comes from Latin carcinōma ‘tumour’, from Ancient Greek κᾰρκῐ́νωμᾰ ‘sore, ulcer’, and ultimately from καρκίνος ‘crab’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκαρκίνος1karkínos‘crab’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκαρκινόω1‘to suffer from cancer’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκᾰρκῐ́νωμᾰ2kărkĭ́nōmă‘sore, ulcer’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarcinōma2‘tumour’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1601carcinoma2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek καρκίνωμα
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English carcinoma
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, Caius Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder]: “Take the fatteſt and fulleſt Figs you can get,…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκαρκίνοςWiktionary, Ancient Greek καρκίνωμαkarkínos‘crab’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκαρκινόωWiktionary, Ancient Greek καρκίνωμα‘to suffer from cancer’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκᾰρκῐ́νωμᾰWiktionary, English carcinomakărkĭ́nōmă‘sore, ulcer’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarcinōmaWiktionary, English carcinoma‘tumour’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1601carcinomaWiktionary, English carcinoma. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, Caius Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder]: “Take the fatteſt and fulleſt Figs you can get,…”

Formed from carcino + oma

German Oma ‘grandma, granny, nan’

English oma

The story

Learned borrowing from Latin carcinōma (‘tumour; ulcer; carcinoma’), from Ancient Greek κᾰρκῐ́νωμᾰ (kărkĭ́nōmă, “sore, ulcer; cancer”), from καρκινόω (karkinóō, “to make (something) resemble a crab”, in the mediopassive "to become cancerous; to suffer from cancer") + -μᾰ (-mă, action noun suffix). Καρκινόω is derived from καρκῐ́νος (karkĭ́nos, “crab; the zodiac sign Cancer; sore, ulcer; cancer”) (according to Paul of Aegina (c. 625 – c. 690) in his Medical Compendium in Seven Books, because the veins surrounding a cancerous tumour resemble a crab’s legs). The English word is a doublet of cancer, and may be analysed as carcino- + -oma. The plural form carcinomata is a learned borrowing from Latin carcinōmata, from Ancient Greek κᾰρκῐνώμᾰτᾰ (kărkĭnṓmătă).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’

short, across, cross, share, screen, score, cancer, shirt, card, circle, curve, circuit, crucial, skirt, curb, circulation, scare, crest, cancellation, circus, scrutiny, shrine, carnival, corona, scorpion, scar, shred, shear, raffle, corolla, scorn, shrewd, crux, circa, carnage, riddance, incarceration, circulate, crepe, corgi, 118 more

Today it means

noun An invasive malignant tumour derived from epithelial tissue that tends to metastasize to other areas of the body.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “carcinoma”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek καρκίνωμα. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek καρκίνος / carcinoma

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