Synonyms for Diabetes in Antiquity and Their Etymology

The history of ancient terms in modern terminology tends to begin when they confront us for the first time as conceptually and linguistically established terms in the old literature. Their history within antiquity is then sealed, the name undergoes no further change, the old concept attached to it has usually undergone the most changeable of fortunes. This is partly to be ascribed to the ignorance and caprice of later physicians, but very often the narrow precision of technical terminology attached to our terms requires that the general meaning almost always associated with the Greek word in ancient medical science be narrowed down to suit modern terminologic needs. Thus, research in the special history of the terms customarily begins with the first appearance of a technical word in the ancient literature and restricts itself to the investigation of its conceptual aspect.