cancer
cancer
From Proto-Italic *kankros, dissimilation of Proto-Italic *karkros (“enclosure”) (because the pincers of a crab form a circle), from Proto-Indo-European *kr-kr- (“circular”), reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”) in the sense of "enclosure", and as such a doublet of carcer. Cognate with curvus. The medical sense, found in Celsus, seems likely to be a semantic loan from Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab; ulcer; cancer”), which is possibly cognate.
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈkaŋ.kɛr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈkan̠ʲ.t͡ʃer]
cancer m (genitive cancrī); second declension
- a crab
- (Astronomy) the constellation Cancer
- a tumor, cancer
- Synonym: carcinōma
- a lattice, grid, or barrier
Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | cancer | cancrī |
| genitive | cancrī | cancrōrum |
| dative | cancrō | cancrīs |
| accusative | cancrum | cancrōs |
| ablative | cancrō | cancrīs |
| vocative | cancer | cancrī |
- In classical Latin, usually declined as a masculine second-declension noun with the stem cancro-.
- Third-declension forms built on a stem cancer- also existed, but were much less frequent. Attested forms include:
- genitive singular canceris (Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 5.617)
- accusative plural cancerēs (Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura 157.3.4)
- The grammarians Charisius and Priscian describe a use as a neuter noun, with Priscian specifying that this applies when the word is used for the illness; the neuter occurs sporadically in later Christian authors.