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Origin and history of cachexia

cachexia(n.)

"bad general state of health," 1550s (from 1540s in Englished form cachexy), from Latinized form of Greek kakhexia "bad habits," from kakos "bad" (from PIE root *kakka- "to defecate") + -exia, related to exis "habit or state," from exein "to have, be in a condition," from PIE root *segh- "to hold." Related: cachexic.

also from 1550s

Entries linking to cachexia

cachectic(adj.)

"pertaining to or characteristic of a bad state of bodily health," 1630s, perhaps via French cachectique (16c.), from Latinized form of Greek kakhektikos "in a bad habit of body" (see cachexia). Cachectical is from 1620s.

*kakka-

also kaka-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to defecate." According to Watkins, "imitative of glottal closure during defecation."

It might form all or part of: caca; cachexia; caco-; cacoethes; cacophony; cucking-stool; kakistocracy; poppycock.

It might also be the source of: Greek kakke "human excrement," Latin cacare, Irish caccaim, Serbo-Croatian kakati, Armenian k'akor; Old English cac-hus "latrine."

Etymologists dispute whether the modern Germanic words (Dutch kakken, Danish kakke, German kacken), are native cognates or student slang borrowed from Latin cacare. Caca appears in Modern English in slang c. 1870, and could have been taken from any or several of the languages that used it.

*segh-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to hold."

It might form all or part of: Antioch; asseverate; asthenia; asthenosphere; cachectic; cachexia; calisthenics; cathexis; entelechy; eunuch; epoch; hectic; Hector; ischemia; myasthenia; neurasthenia; Ophiuchus; persevere; schema; schematic; scheme; scholar; scholastic; school (n.1) "place of instruction;" severe; severity; Siegfried.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit sahate "he masters, overcomes," sahah "power, victory;" Avestan hazah "power, victory;" Greek skhema "figure, appearance, the nature of a thing," related to skhein "to get," ekhein "to have, hold; be in a given state or condition;" Gothic sigis, Old High German sigu, Old Norse sigr, Old English sige "victory."

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    infirmity
    late 14c., infirmite, "disease, sickness; lack of capability, weakness," from Old French infirmité, enfermete "illness, sickness, disease; moral weakness," and directly from Latin infirmitatem (nominative infirmitas) "want of strength, weakness, feebleness," also "the weaker sex"
    dystopia
    "imaginary bad place," 1952, from dys- "bad, abnormal" + ending abstracted from utopia. Earlier in medical use, "displacement of an organ" (by 1844), with second element from Greek topos "place" (see topos). Dystopian was used in the non-medical sense in 1868 by J.S. Mill: I may
    Eucharist
    "sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the Communion," mid-14c., from Old French eucariste, from Late Latin eucharistia, from Greek eukharistia "thanksgiving, gratitude," later "the Lord's Supper," from eukharistos "grateful," from eu "well" (see eu-) + stem of kharizesthai "show favor
    rise
    Middle English risen, from Old English risan "to rise from sleep, get out of bed; stand up, rise to one's feet; get up from table; rise together; be fit, be proper" (typically gerisan, arisan; a class I strong verb; past tense ras, past participle risen), from Proto-Germanic *us-
    insight
    c. 1200, innsihht, "sight with the 'eyes' of the mind, mental vision, understanding from within," from in (prep.) + sight (n.). But the meaning often seems to be felt as "sight into" (something else), and so the sense shifted to "penetrating understanding into character or hidden
    project
    c. 1400, projecte, "a plan, draft, scheme, design," from Medieval Latin proiectum "something thrown forth," noun use of neuter of Latin proiectus, past participle of proicere "stretch out, thrust out, throw forth," from pro- "forward" (see pro-) + combining form of iacere (past p
    psyche
    1640s, "animating spirit, the human spirit or mind," from Latin psyche, from Greek psykhē "the soul, mind, spirit; life, one's life, the invisible animating principle or entity which occupies and directs the physical body; understanding, the mind (as the seat of thought), faculty
    empathy
    1908, modeled on German Einfühlung (from ein "in" + Fühlung "feeling"), which was coined 1858 by German philosopher Rudolf Lotze (1817-1881) as a translation of Greek empatheia "passion, state of emotion," from assimilated form of en "in" (see en- (2)) + pathos "feeling" (from PI
    mundane
    mid-15c., mondeine, "of this world, worldly, terrestrial," from Old French mondain "of this world, worldly, earthly, secular;" also "pure, clean; noble, generous" (12c.) and directly from Late Latin mundanus "belonging to the world" (as distinct from the Church), in classical Lat
    qualitative
    early 15c., qualitatif, "that produces a (physical) quality," from Medieval Latin qualitativus "relating to quality," from stem of Latin qualitas "a quality, property, nature" (see quality). Meaning "concerned with quality, relating to the possession of qualities without referenc

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