Carpal
/ˈkɑːr.pəl/noun
Relating to the wrist or the group of small bones forming the wrist.
Did you know?The Greek word karpós could mean “wrist” and also “fruit” or “produce,” reflecting an ancient conceptual link between the hand’s grasp and what it gathers.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kerp-
“To pluck, gather, or harvest; a proposed ancestral root associated with grasping and taking.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
καρπός (karpós)
“Wrist; also fruit or produce in a related Greek form.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
καρπός (karpós)
“The wrist, understood as the hand’s grasping joint.”
Ancient Latin
Latin
carpus
“The wrist or wrist bones, borrowed from Greek.”
New Latin
New Latin
carpalis
“Relating to the wrist; formed from carpus with the adjectival suffix -alis.”
19th Century
English
carpal
“Relating to the wrist or its bones.”