Helcos
/ˈhɛl.kɒs/noun
An ulcer or open sore, especially in older medical terminology.
Did you know?Helcos comes from Ancient Greek ἕλκος, a term used by Greek physicians for an ulcer or bodily wound and preserved in later medical vocabulary.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*welk-
“To wound or injure; a reconstructed root associated with sores and bodily damage.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ἕλκος (helkos)
“An ulcer, sore, or wound.”
Late Greek
Greek
ἑλκός (helkós)
“An ulcerative lesion or open sore.”
Renaissance period
New Latin
helcos
“A medical term for an ulcer, adopted into learned anatomical vocabulary.”
17th–19th Century
English
helcos
“An ulcer or sore; an obsolete or highly specialized medical noun.”
Modern English
English
helcos
“A rare historical medical term meaning an ulcer.”
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