What diagnostic method's name
derives from a word that means "life sight" in Greek?
Etymology, Etymology, and more Etymology
as well as grammar, usage, euphemism, slang, jargon, semantics (meaning), linguistics, neologism, idiom, word origin, syntax, dialect, lexicon (vocabulary), diction, pidgin, synonym, antonym, homonym, cant, argot, lingo, and redundancy.
The critically-acclaimed board game
MooT
consists of tough questions about the nuances of the English language.
Answer:
biopsy
To perform a diagnosis by removing a
tissue sample from a living body is to perform a biopsy. The word was coined in
1895 by Ernest Besnier from the Greek bios,
life, and opsis, a sight.
The first OED citation is:
1895 E. Besnier in
J. J. Pringle Pict. Atlas Skin Dis. 88: "Clinical
teaching will now find in a 'biopsy' a valuable means of confirming or
invalidating a dubious diagnosis."
Please note that these are draft questions for the board game MooT.
If you spot an error or disagree with anything I've said here,
please let me know and I'll fix it.
(the Mootguy)
Feedback
I guess that an
"autopsy" (self-sight?-- but geez, you can hardly do it yourself, can you?)
would then more accurately be called a "thanatopsy" ("thanatos" being Greek for
death)? Whaddayathink?
x-jacko@-lycos.com
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