Polio
/ˈpoʊ.li.oʊ/noun
A highly infectious viral disease that can damage the nervous system and cause paralysis.
Did you know?Polio’s full medical name, poliomyelitis, literally refers to inflammation of the spinal cord’s gray matter: Greek polios means “gray,” myelos means “marrow,” and -itis means “inflammation.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pelh₁-
“Gray or pale-colored”
Ancient Greek
Greek
πολιός (poliós)
“Gray, especially gray-haired or gray-colored”
19th Century
Medical Greek
poliomyelitis
“Inflammation of the gray matter of the spinal cord”
1874
English medical usage
poliomyelitis
“The disease now commonly known as polio”
20th Century
English
polio
“A shortened form of poliomyelitis”