Rara #25

Legacy number: 25

 Number  25
 Phenomenon  a derivational rule for forming nouns denoting a disease, an inflammation, or an affection of a body part from nouns denoting that body part
 Found in  Ancient Greek (Hellenic, IE) and European languages borrowing this derivational rule or indeed the derived and basic nouns themselves.
 Domain  morphology: word formation — derivational categories
 Type  rarissimum
 Keywords  denominal nouns
 Violates  none

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Discussion
Notes
e.g., English appendic-itis, bronch-itis, tonsil-itis; also used metaphorically, as in election-itis Originally, in Greek, the suffix was used for deriving adjectives from nouns, denoting properties prototypically associated with those nouns; the medical specialization being due to the combination of such derived adjectives, in their feminine singular form, with the feminine noun nÛsos ?illness?.
Comment
Frans Plank · 21 Sep 2006
e.g., English appendic-itis, bronch-itis, tonsil-itis; also used metaphorically, as in election-itis

Originally, in Greek, the suffix was used for deriving adjectives from nouns, denoting properties prototypically associated with those nouns; the medical specialization being due to the combination of such derived adjectives, in their feminine singular form, with the feminine noun nósos 'illness'.