Abstract
The linguistic foundations of science and technology include many terms that have been borrowed from ancient languages. In the case of terms with origins in the Greek language, the modern meaning can often differ significantly from the original one. Here we use the PubMed database to demonstrate the prevalence of words of Greek origin in the language of modern science, and call for scientists to exercise care when coining new terms.
Highlights
The linguistic foundations of science and technology include many terms that have been borrowed from ancient languages
To exemplify the linguistic richness of the Greek language, we explored the use of Greek prepositions to convey additional meaning within genomics
Sophia Ananiadou is in the School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
Summary
The linguistic foundations of science and technology include many terms that have been borrowed from ancient languages. It is seldom that scientists or engineers think about the deeper origins of many of the names and words they use in their professional lives. The study of the origins of words is called etymology, which, by the way, is derived from the Greek word ’etumo&’ meaning ’real’ and ’genuine’.
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