Ulcer
/ˈʌl.sər/noun
An open sore on the skin or a mucous membrane, often slow to heal.
Did you know?Ulcer comes from Latin ulcus, a word for a sore or wound, and it’s one of those old medical terms that survived almost unchanged for centuries.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*welk-
“to wound, to hurt”
Latin
Latin
ulcus
“a sore, ulcer, wound”
Late Latin
Latin
ulcer
“an ulcer, sore”
Old French
Old French
ulcere
“ulcer, sore”
Middle English
English
ulcer
“an open sore or wound”
Modern English
English
ulcer
“an open sore on the skin or a mucous membrane”
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