-Algia
/ˈæl.dʒə/noun
A combining form used in medical terms to denote pain in a specified part of the body.
Did you know?The suffix comes from Ancient Greek ἄλγος, meaning “pain,” and was revived in scientific Latin and modern medical vocabulary to name specific kinds of bodily suffering.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂elǵ-
“To feel pain or suffer; a proposed ancestral root connected with painful sensation”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ἄλγος (álgos)
“Pain, distress, or bodily suffering”
Hellenistic Greek
Greek
-αλγία (-algía)
“A medical-forming element meaning a condition involving pain”
17th Century
New Latin
-algia
“Scientific and medical suffix denoting pain”
Modern English
English
-algia
“Combining form used in terms such as neuralgia and myalgia”