Ptosis
/ˈtoʊsɪs/noun
A downward displacement or drooping of an organ or body part, especially the upper eyelid.
Did you know?Ptosis comes from Greek ptōsis, meaning “a falling” or “falling down,” from the same ancient root behind words for collapse, decline, and grammatical “cases” where words literally “fall” into forms.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pet-
“to fly, fall, or rush downward”
Ancient Greek
Greek
πτῶσις (ptōsis)
“a falling, fall; later, a grammatical case”
Latin
Latin
ptosis
“a dropping or falling down (medical borrowing from Greek)”
14th–17th Century
English
ptosis
“a falling or drooping, especially of the upper eyelid”
Modern English
English
ptosis
“medical term for drooping or downward displacement of a body part”
Explore more surprising origins