The emperor of etymology

Siddhartha Mukherjee explains ideas through language

“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.”

— Siddhartha Mukherjee, author, The Emperor of All Maladies

The history of ideas is reflected in language. So if you aim to explain ideas, one way is to explain language. That’s why etymology — the study of the origins of words — is such an effective form of wordplay.

Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer is packed with etymological explanations. Immerse yourself in his examples to find inspiration for your own exploration of word origins. Here are three examples to get you started:

“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.”

“Palliative care, the branch of medicine that focuses on symptom relief and comfort, had been perceived as the antimatter of cancer therapy, the negative to its positive, an admission of failure to its rhetoric of success. The word palliate comes from the Latin palliare, ‘to cloak’ — and providing pain relief was perceived as cloaking the essence of the illness, smothering symptoms rather than attacking disease.”

“Freireich and Frei were now ready to take their pivotal and intuitive leap into the abyss. The next regimen they would try would be a combination of all four drugs: vincristine, amethopterin, mercaptopurine, and prednisone. The regimen would be known by a new acronym, with each letter standing for one of the drugs: VAMP. The name had many intended and unintended resonances. Vamp is a word that means to improvise or patch up, to cobble something together from bits and pieces that might crumble apart any second. It can mean a seductress — one who promises but does not deliver. It also refers to the front of a boot, the part that carries the full brunt of force during a kick.”

Use etymology to explain your ideas

Etymology, by the way, is derived from the Greek word “etymon,” meaning “a sense” and “logos,” meaning “word.” Etymology, in other words, is the study of the origins, development and meaning of a word.

How could you take a tip from Mukherjee and use etymology to explain your complex concepts?

Learn how to conduct etymological research.