diarrhea (English)

Where does "diarrhea" come from?

The word diarrhea comes from the Ancient Greek διάρροια, a literal description meaning "through-flowing" derived from the components meaning "through" and "to flow." This term traveled through Late Latin and Middle French before entering Middle English, eventually displacing the descriptive Old English term "ūtsiht." Its spelling was later adjusted to more closely reflect its classical roots in Greek and Latin.

Full etymology tree

• diarrhea (English), 'A gastrointestinal disorder characterized by frequent and very soft or watery bowel movements.'
  • inherited diaria (Middle English)
    • inherited diarrie (Middle French), 'diarrhea'
      • borrowed diarrhoea (Latin), 'diarrhoea'
        • borrowed διάρροια (diárrhoia) (Ancient Greek), 'flowing through, diarrhoea'
          • compound δῐᾰρρέω (dĭărrhéō) (Ancient Greek)
            • compound δῐᾰ- (dĭă-) (Ancient Greek), 'in different directions'
              • inherited *dwís (Proto-Indo-European), 'twice, doubly'
            • compound ῥέω (rhéō) (Ancient Greek), 'to flow, stream, run, gush'
              • inherited *hréwō (Proto-Hellenic), 'to flow, stream'
                • inherited *sréweti (Proto-Indo-European), 'to flow'
                  • derived *srew- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to flow, stream'
                    • derived *ser- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to flow'
          • suffix -ιᾰ (-iă) (Ancient Greek), 'Primitive suffix added to the stems of adjectives in -ύς (-ús) and some nouns to form feminine gender'

Direct ancestors

• srew- (Proto-Indo-European)
• diarrie (Middle French)
• diarrhoea (Latin)
• διάρροια (Ancient Greek)
• diarrhée (French)
• dia- (English)
• -rrhea (English)
• utsiht (Old English)

Updated July 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris