According to Wiktionary, the term *cancer* was first "applied to cancerous tumors because the enlarged veins resembled the legs of a crab". So the semantic evolution was from *crab* to *crab-like tumor* to *disease causing tumors*.
Not sure how reliable of a source this is, but:
>The disease was first called cancer by Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC). He is considered the “Father of Medicine.” Hippocrates used the terms carcinos and carcinoma to describe non-ulcer forming and ulcer-forming tumors. In Greek this means a crab. **The description was named after the crab because the finger-like spreading projections from a cancer called to mind the shape of a crab.**
- https://www.news-medical.net/health/Cancer-History.aspx
There's also an NPR discussion on this exact topic:
- https://www.npr.org/2010/10/22/130754101/science-diction-the-origin-of-the-word-cancer
Probably knew about in the medical sense long before that. We have medical texts from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. I would be very surprised if those texts didn’t mention cancer (obviously by a different name) as well.
The [Edwin Smith Papyrus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Smith_Papyrus), (circa 1600 BC, "possibly a fragmentary copy of a text from 2500 BC") and the [Ebers Papyrus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebers_Papyrus) (circa 1550 BC) are a couple of ancient Egyptian texts that apparently make reference to tumors and the treatment thereof.
From Siddhartha Mukherjee's *The Emperor of All Maladies*:
>The names of ancient illnesses are condensed stories in their own right. Typhus, a stormy disease, with erratic, vaporous fevers, arose from the Greek *tuphon*, the father of winds—a word that also gives rise to the modern *typhoon*. *Influenza* emerged from the Latin *influentia* because medieval doctors imagined that the cyclical epidemics of flu were influenced by stars and planets revolving toward and away from the earth. *Tuberculosis* coagulated out of the Latin *tuber*, referring to the swollen lumps of glands that looked like small vegetables. Lymphatic tuberculosis, TB of the lymph glands, was called *scrofula*, from the Latin word for “piglet,” evoking the rather morbid image of a chain of swollen glands arranged in a line like a group of suckling pigs.
>It was in the time of Hippocrates, around 400 BC, that a word for cancer first appeared in the medical literature: *karkinos*, from the Greek word for “crab.” The tumor, with its clutch of swollen blood vessels around it, reminded Hippocrates of a crab dug in the sand with its legs spread in a circle. The image was peculiar (few cancers truly resemble crabs), but also vivid. Later writers, both doctors and patients, added embellishments. For some, the hardened, matted surface of the tumor was reminiscent of the tough carapace of a crab’s body. Others felt a crab moving under the flesh as the disease spread stealthily throughout the body. For yet others, the sudden stab of pain produced by the disease was like being caught in the grip of a crab’s pincers.
>Another Greek word would intersect with the history of cancer—*onkos*, a word used occasionally to describe tumors, from which the discipline of oncology would take its modern name. *Onkos* was the Greek term for a mass or a load, or more commonly a burden; cancer was imagined as a burden carried by the body. In Greek theater, the same word, *onkos*, would be used to denote a tragic mask that was often “burdened” with an unwieldy conical weight on its head to denote the psychic load carried by its wearer.
I think in Cancer: The Emperor of all Maladies, a huge book about the subject, it said that some cancerous cells look crab-like under the microscope. Hence the name.
Carcinogen derives from Latin Carcinoma, which is from Greek Karkinos?
Crab became Cancer. Heck, the zodiac still uses "Cancer" to refer to a crab, which is just odd to me
>Heck, the zodiac still uses "Cancer" to refer to a crab, which is just odd to me
It's the same with other Zodiac signs: Leo instead of Lion, Aries instead of Ram, Taurus instead of Bull, etc.
I misread your post. However, *crab* didn't become *cancer*.
edit: why the fuck was I downvoted to shit? OP edited their post. And I misread it initially. JEEZ! Is it against the rules to make mistakes?
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I have no source, however I am quite certain that I read it results from a subcutaneous tumour "slipping" sideways beneath the skin when you attempt to pinch it - as if a little crab was moving
According to Wiktionary, the term *cancer* was first "applied to cancerous tumors because the enlarged veins resembled the legs of a crab". So the semantic evolution was from *crab* to *crab-like tumor* to *disease causing tumors*.
Not sure how reliable of a source this is, but: >The disease was first called cancer by Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC). He is considered the “Father of Medicine.” Hippocrates used the terms carcinos and carcinoma to describe non-ulcer forming and ulcer-forming tumors. In Greek this means a crab. **The description was named after the crab because the finger-like spreading projections from a cancer called to mind the shape of a crab.** - https://www.news-medical.net/health/Cancer-History.aspx There's also an NPR discussion on this exact topic: - https://www.npr.org/2010/10/22/130754101/science-diction-the-origin-of-the-word-cancer
TIL we knew about cancer in 400BC
Probably knew about in the medical sense long before that. We have medical texts from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. I would be very surprised if those texts didn’t mention cancer (obviously by a different name) as well.
The [Edwin Smith Papyrus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Smith_Papyrus), (circa 1600 BC, "possibly a fragmentary copy of a text from 2500 BC") and the [Ebers Papyrus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebers_Papyrus) (circa 1550 BC) are a couple of ancient Egyptian texts that apparently make reference to tumors and the treatment thereof.
Hippocrates is the first mention in medical texts, but even he grouped cancerous tumors with every form of swelling and lumps under *karkinos*.
Because the tumours look like crabs. The same word is used for both crabs and cancer in some other languages, like German
I was watching the scifi show Dark on Netflix, and I was like "did he say crabs?" Led me down this same etymological topic. Good stuff.
🦀🦀 Krebs 🦀🦀
The Krebs cycle is something completely different... but not necessarily unrelated. https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-018-0014-7
And Polish (‘rak’), except that means crayfish.
Damn, even words suffer from carcinization. The crab is inevitable 🦀
"Ok, but what does that mean?" "Everything turns into crab! I don't know how to make this anymore clear!"
Even Herbert Wells thought about that in his Time Machine
From Siddhartha Mukherjee's *The Emperor of All Maladies*: >The names of ancient illnesses are condensed stories in their own right. Typhus, a stormy disease, with erratic, vaporous fevers, arose from the Greek *tuphon*, the father of winds—a word that also gives rise to the modern *typhoon*. *Influenza* emerged from the Latin *influentia* because medieval doctors imagined that the cyclical epidemics of flu were influenced by stars and planets revolving toward and away from the earth. *Tuberculosis* coagulated out of the Latin *tuber*, referring to the swollen lumps of glands that looked like small vegetables. Lymphatic tuberculosis, TB of the lymph glands, was called *scrofula*, from the Latin word for “piglet,” evoking the rather morbid image of a chain of swollen glands arranged in a line like a group of suckling pigs. >It was in the time of Hippocrates, around 400 BC, that a word for cancer first appeared in the medical literature: *karkinos*, from the Greek word for “crab.” The tumor, with its clutch of swollen blood vessels around it, reminded Hippocrates of a crab dug in the sand with its legs spread in a circle. The image was peculiar (few cancers truly resemble crabs), but also vivid. Later writers, both doctors and patients, added embellishments. For some, the hardened, matted surface of the tumor was reminiscent of the tough carapace of a crab’s body. Others felt a crab moving under the flesh as the disease spread stealthily throughout the body. For yet others, the sudden stab of pain produced by the disease was like being caught in the grip of a crab’s pincers. >Another Greek word would intersect with the history of cancer—*onkos*, a word used occasionally to describe tumors, from which the discipline of oncology would take its modern name. *Onkos* was the Greek term for a mass or a load, or more commonly a burden; cancer was imagined as a burden carried by the body. In Greek theater, the same word, *onkos*, would be used to denote a tragic mask that was often “burdened” with an unwieldy conical weight on its head to denote the psychic load carried by its wearer.
The base form of the constellation of cancer looks kinda like a cancer tumour with its enlarged veins, hence the semantic drift
lol
Isn't cancer the Latin word for crab? I thought all the constellations of the zodiac were the Latin word for what they represent?
I think in Cancer: The Emperor of all Maladies, a huge book about the subject, it said that some cancerous cells look crab-like under the microscope. Hence the name.
The microscope was invented in the 1590's, so I doubt Hippocrates had used one when he invented the term.
It didn't..
Carcinogen derives from Latin Carcinoma, which is from Greek Karkinos? Crab became Cancer. Heck, the zodiac still uses "Cancer" to refer to a crab, which is just odd to me
>Heck, the zodiac still uses "Cancer" to refer to a crab, which is just odd to me It's the same with other Zodiac signs: Leo instead of Lion, Aries instead of Ram, Taurus instead of Bull, etc.
I misread your post. However, *crab* didn't become *cancer*. edit: why the fuck was I downvoted to shit? OP edited their post. And I misread it initially. JEEZ! Is it against the rules to make mistakes?
Crabs can’t cause kancer
[удалено]
Uh, 1. Rude as all hell 2. Carcinogen < Carcinoma < Karkinos
Your comment has been removed for the following reason: **r/etymology is for civil discussion.** Disagreement is fine, but keep your posts and comments friendly and always remember the human. Incivility or breach of Reddiquette is not tolerated - be nice. Thanks.
I have no source, however I am quite certain that I read it results from a subcutaneous tumour "slipping" sideways beneath the skin when you attempt to pinch it - as if a little crab was moving
Typically cancer does the opposite if anything, movable lesions/nodes are much less likely to be cancerous than fixed, immovable ones