symptom (English)
Where does "symptom" come from?
The English noun symptom traces back to the Ancient Greek 'σύμπτωμα' meaning 'a happening, accident, symptom of disease'[1]. This Greek term is formed from the verb 'συμπίπτω' meaning 'to befall' or 'happen', which combines 'συν-' meaning 'together' with 'πίπτω' meaning 'to fall'[1][2][4]. The ultimate root reaches back to Proto-Indo-European '*peth₂-' meaning 'to fall' or 'to fly'[5].
Open questions
- The reason for the long iota in the Ancient Greek verb 'πίπτω' remains unknown. [5]
Full etymology tree
- symptom (English), 'A perceived change in some function, sensation or appearance of a person that indicates a disease or disorder, such as fever, headache or rash; strictly, a symptom is felt or experienced by the patient, while a sign can be detected by an observer.'
- borrowed σύμπτωμα (súmptōma) (Ancient Greek), 'anything that has befallen one, a chance, casualty'
- derived συμπίπτω (sumpíptō) (Ancient Greek), 'to fall together, meet violently'
- compound συν- (sun-) (Ancient Greek), 'with, together, co-, syn-'
- compound πίπτω (pípto) (Ancient Greek), 'to fall, throw oneself down'
- inherited *píptō (Proto-Hellenic)
- inherited *pípth₂- (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *peth₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to spread out'
- inherited *pípth₂- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *píptō (Proto-Hellenic)
- suffix -μα (-ma) (Ancient Greek), 'Added to verbal stems to form neuter nouns denoting the effect or result of an action, a particular instance of an action, or the object of an action'
- derived συμπίπτω (sumpíptō) (Ancient Greek), 'to fall together, meet violently'
- borrowed σύμπτωμα (súmptōma) (Ancient Greek), 'anything that has befallen one, a chance, casualty'
Ancestors
- *sem- (Proto-Indo-European)
- σύμπτωμα (Ancient Greek)
Descendants and derived words
- BLIPS (English)
- cardinal symptom (English)
- monosodium glutamate symptom complex (English)
- MSG symptom complex (English)
- Pratt's symptom (English)
- rational symptom (English)
- somatic symptom disorder (English)
- symptomatology (English)
- symptom journal (English)
- symptomless (English)
- Uhthoff's symptom (English)
- withdrawal symptom (English)
Sources
- symptom (English) - Wiktionary
- σύμπτωμα (súmptōma) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- peth₂- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
- συμπίπτω (sumpíptō) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- πίπτω (pípto) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris