Sauda
/ˈsaʊ.də/noun
A traditional medical term for black bile, and by extension melancholy or depression.
Did you know?In Greco-Arabic humoral medicine, excess sauda was thought to darken both the body and the mind, helping shape the historical idea of melancholy.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*s-w-d
“A reconstructed root associated with blackness or dark color.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
sawdāʾ
“Black; literally, the feminine form of “black one.””
Medieval Arabic medicine
Arabic
al-sawdāʾ
“Black bile, one of the four bodily humors; its excess was linked to melancholy.”
Medieval Persianate and South Asian medicine
Arabic/Urdu
saudā
“Black bile or melancholic temperament in Unani medical usage.”
19th Century
English
sauda
“A medical loanword for black bile or melancholy.”
Modern English
English
sauda
“An archaic or specialized term referring to black bile and associated melancholy.”