*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of rheum

From Middle English reume, rewme, from Anglo-Norman reume, from Late Latin rheuma, from Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, humour”). Doublet of stream.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

Thin or watery discharge of mucus or serum, especially from the eyes or nose, formerly thought to cause disease. · Illness or disease thought to be caused by such secretions; a catarrh, a cold; rheumatism. · Tears.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English reume, rewme, from Anglo-Norman reume, from Late Latin rheuma, from Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, humour”). Doublet of stream.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*srew-"
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    },
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      "args": {
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    {
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      "args": {
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        "3": "reume"
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    },
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      "args": {
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        "3": "rheuma"
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      "expansion": "Late Latin rheuma"
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      "expansion": "Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, humour”)"
    },
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      "name": "doublet",
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        "2": "stream"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of stream"
    }
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    ],
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      "rewme#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "reume",
      "reume#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "rheuma",
      "rheuma#Latin"
    ],
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      "ῥεῦμα",
      "ῥεῦμα#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
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      "stream",
      "stream#English"
    ]
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  "lexical": [
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        "Thin or watery discharge of mucus or serum, especially from the eyes or nose, formerly thought to cause disease.",
        "Illness or disease thought to be caused by such secretions; a catarrh, a cold; rheumatism.",
        "Tears."
      ],
      "tags": [
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

Clipping of rheumatologist.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Clipping of rheumatologist.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  ],
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  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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      "glosses": [
        "Clipping of rheumatologist."
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for rheum →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cmhldW0