Rheumatism
/ˈruː.mə.tɪ.zəm/noun
A broad term for painful inflammatory or degenerative conditions affecting the joints, muscles, or connective tissues.
Did you know?The word ultimately comes from Greek *rheuma*, “a flow” or “stream,” because ancient medicine imagined certain aches were caused by harmful fluids moving through the body.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sreu-
“to flow, stream”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ῥεῦμα (rheuma)
“a flow, current, bodily discharge”
Late Greek
Greek
ῥευματισμός (rheumatismos)
“a flux or catarrhal affliction”
Late Latin
Latin
rheumatismus
“a flux-related illness”
14th–16th Century
Anglo-French / English
rheumatisme
“a disease thought to be caused by flowing bodily humors”
Modern English
English
rheumatism
“painful disorders of the joints and connective tissues”