diarrea (Spanish)
Where does "diarrea" come from?
The Spanish word "diarrea" traces its origins back to the Ancient Greek "diárrhoia," which literally translated to "through-flowing." This compound term was formed from the Greek words for "through" and "to flow," the latter of which stems from a deeper Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to flow or stream." Eventually, the term was adopted into Late Latin, from which it traveled into modern Spanish retaining its original medical sense.
Full etymology tree
- diarrea (Spanish), 'diarrhea'
- borrowed diarrhoea (Latin), 'diarrhoea'
- borrowed διάρροια (diárrhoia) (Ancient Greek), 'flowing through, diarrhoea'
- compound διά (diá) (Ancient Greek), '[with genitive]'
- inherited *δισά (*disá) (Proto-Greek)
- inherited *dwís (Proto-Indo-European), 'twice, doubly'
- inherited *δισά (*disá) (Proto-Greek)
- 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'
- derived *srew- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to flow, stream'
- inherited *sréweti (Proto-Indo-European), 'to flow'
- inherited *hréwō (Proto-Hellenic), 'to flow, stream'
- suffix -ιᾰ (-iă) (Ancient Greek), 'Primitive suffix added to the stems of adjectives in -ύς (-ús) and some nouns to form feminine gender'
- compound διά (diá) (Ancient Greek), '[with genitive]'
- borrowed διάρροια (diárrhoia) (Ancient Greek), 'flowing through, diarrhoea'
- borrowed diarrhoea (Latin), 'diarrhoea'
Ancestors
- diarrhoea (Latin)
- διάρροια (Ancient Greek)
Descendants and derived words
- diarrea del viajero (Spanish)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris