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Origin and history of laparoscopy

laparoscopy(n.)

1855, laparoscopia, "medical examination of the abdomen or pelvis" by stethoscope, etc., coined in German from -scopy + combining form of Greek lapara "flank, loins, soft part of the body between the ribs and the hips," from laparos "soft, slack, loose." This is reconstructed (Watkins) to be from PIE *lap-aro-, suffixed form of root *lep- (1) "to peel" (see leper). From mid-20c. especially as "surgical technique used to diagnose or treat conditions in the abdomen through small incisions." Related: Laparoscopic; laparoscope.

also from 1855

Entries linking to laparoscopy

leper(n.)

"one afflicted with leprosy," late 14c., earlier "the disease leprosy," from Late Latin lepra, from Greek lepra "leprosy," noun use of fem. of lepros (adj.) "scaly, scabby, rough, leprous," related to lepein "to peel," from lepos, lepis "a scale," from PIE root *lep- (1) "to peel," which also yields words for "something delicate and weak," via the notion of "small shaving, flake, scale" (cognates: Latin lepidus "pleasant, charming, fine, elegant, effeminate," lepos "pleasantness, agreeableness;" Old English læfer "rush, reed; metal plate;" Lithuanian lopas "patch, rag, cloth," lepus "soft, weak, effeminate").

Originally in Middle English this was the word for the disease itself (mid-13c., via Old French lepre); the shift in meaning to "person with leprosy" perhaps developed in Anglo-French, or is because the -er ending resembled an agent-noun affix. By mid-15c. other nouns for the disease were being coined (see leprosy). In English lepra also was an old name for psoriasis (late 14c.).

-scopy

word-forming element meaning "viewing, examining, observing," from Modern Latin -scopium, from Greek -skopion, from skopein "to look at, examine" (from PIE root *spek- "to observe").

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    picnic
    1748 (in Chesterfield's "Letters"), but the thing itself apparently was rare before c. 1800 as an English institution [OED]; it originally meant "a fashionable social affair (not necessarily out of doors) in which every partaker contributed something to the general table;" from F
    oath
    Middle English oth, from Old English að "judicial swearing, solemn appeal (to deity, sacred relics, etc.), in witness of truth or a promise," from Proto-Germanic *aithaz (source also of Old Norse eiðr, Swedish ed, Old Saxon, Old Frisian eth, Middle Dutch eet, Dutch eed, German ei
    dismay
    c. 1300, dismaien, "become or be alarmed, upset, or frightened; to confound, break down the courage of by danger or difficulty or fear of calamity, fill with despairing apprehension;" perhaps formed in Anglo-French or Middle English from dis-, here probably intensive (see dis-),
    hanker
    c. 1600, "linger in expectation;" 1640s, "have a longing or craving for," of unknown origin. Probably from Flemish hankeren, related to Dutch hunkeren "to hanker, to long for," which is perhaps an intensive or frequentative of Middle Dutch hangen "to hang" (see hang (v.)). If so,
    peremptory
    mid-15c., peremptorie, "absolute, allowing no refusal," a legal term, from Anglo-French peremptorie, from Late Latin peremptorius "destructive, decisive, final," from peremptor "destroyer," agent noun from past-participle stem of Latin perimpere "destroy, cut off," from per "away
    interview
    1510s, "face-to-face meeting, formal conference," from French entrevue, verbal noun from s'entrevoir "to see each other, visit each other briefly, have a glimpse of," from entre- "between" (see inter-) + Old French voir "to see" (from Latin videre, from PIE root *weid- "to see").
    news
    late 14c., "new things," plural of new (n.) "new thing" (see new (adj.)); after French nouvelles, which was used in Bible translations to render Medieval Latin nova (neuter plural) "news," literally "new things." The English word was construed as singular at least from the 1560s,
    charity
    late Old English, "benevolence for the poor," also "Christian love in its highest manifestation," from Old French charité "(Christian) charity, mercy, compassion; alms; charitable foundation" (12c.), from Latin caritatem (nominative caritas) "costliness; esteem, affection," from
    intervention
    early 15c., intervencioun, "intercession, intercessory prayer," Late Latin interventionem (nominative interventio) "an interposing, a giving security," literally "a coming between," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin intervenire "to come between, interrupt," from i
    ain't
    1706, originally a contraction of am not, and considered proper as such until in early 19c. it began to be also a generic contraction of are not, is not, has not, etc. This was popularized in representations of London cockney dialect in Dickens, etc., which led to the word being

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