Borrowed from Latin cancer ( “ crab ” ) , a calque of Ancient Greek καρκίνος ( karkínos , “ crab; ulcer; cancer ” ) , possibly cognate, applied to cancerous tumors because of a supposed resemblence between their enlarged veins and the legs of a crab. Doublet of canker and chancre .
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Lewis’s Elementary Latin Dictionary
1890 American Book Company edition; pinned Perseus XML digitizationcancer
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Ultimately from Latin cancer ( “ crab ” ) .
From English cancer .
Borrowed from Latin cancer .
Borrowed from Latin cancer . Doublet of chancre , which was inherited, and cancre .
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.
From Latin cancer .
Borrowed from French cancer , from Latin cancer .
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