pancreas

Where does the word "pancreas" come from? It comes from Greek pan, passing through Greek and Latin before entering English (1570s).

Pancreas’s story begins in Greek: pan meant “all.” All, combined with kreas (flesh). Within Greek, it grew into pankreas by ancient. All flesh, describing the glandular organ's uniform fleshy texture. From there it passed into Latin as pancreas by ancient. Carried into Latin anatomical vocabulary. It reached English by 1570s as pancreas. Settled as the English word for the digestive and endocrine gland. Today, pancreas means a gland behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and insulin.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient pan "all", all, combined with kreas (flesh).
2. Stage 2 · Greek · ancient pankreas "all flesh", all flesh, describing the glandular organ's uniform fleshy texture.
3. Stage 3 · Latin · ancient pancreas "the glandular organ", carried into Latin anatomical vocabulary.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1570s pancreas "a gland behind the stomach that aids digestion", settled as the English word for the digestive and endocrine gland.