Etymograph

English

thelitis

Thelitis comes from Ancient Greek θηλή ‘nipple’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁léh₂.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁léh₂1reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθηλή2thēlḗ‘nipple’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1911thelitis2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek θηλή
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English thelitis
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1911, John George Adami, The Principles of Pathology: Systemic pathology: “Thelitis. - Inflammation of the nipple (thelitis) is not…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁léh₂Wiktionary, Ancient Greek θηλήreconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθηλήWiktionary, English thelitisthēlḗ‘nipple’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1911thelitisWiktionary, English thelitis. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1911, John George Adami, The Principles of Pathology: Systemic pathology: “Thelitis. - Inflammation of the nipple (thelitis) is not…”

Formed from itis

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁léh₂

Today it means

noun Inflammation of the nipple or teat.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “thelitis”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek θηλή. 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 *dʰeh₁léh₂ / thelitis

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