Etymograph

English

cholera

Cholera comes from Latin cholera ‘bilious disease’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-1‘green, yellow’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχολέρα1kholéra
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcholera1‘bilious disease’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1895cholera1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cholera
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1895, H. G. Wells: “'This again,' said the Bacteriologist, slipping a glass slide…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-Wiktionary, English cholera‘green, yellow’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχολέραWiktionary, English cholerakholéra
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcholeraWiktionary, English cholera‘bilious disease’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1895choleraWiktionary, English cholera. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1895, H. G. Wells: “'This again,' said the Bacteriologist, slipping a glass slide…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’

gold, fell, yellow, gall, chlorine, felon, 34 more

Today it means

noun Any of several acute infectious diseases of humans and domestic animals, caused by certain strains of the Vibrio cholerae bacterium through ingestion of contaminated water or food, usually marked by severe gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and dehydration.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cholera”. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- / cholera

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