gynaecology

gynaecology
\ \ [19] The Greek word for ‘woman’ was guné. It has relatives in several modern Indo-European languages, including Swedish kvinna, Danish kvinde, Irish Gaelic bean, Welsh benyw, Czech zhena, Russian zhenshchina, Persian zan (whence ultimately English zenanaharem’ [18]), and the now obsolete English quean [OE], and goes back to Indo-European *gwen-. The resumption of the study of Greek in the 16th century led to increasing adoption of compounds involving guné into English. The earliest recorded ones are gyneconomemember of a board of Athenian magistrates whose job was to ensure that women behaved properly’ [16] and gynocracyrule by women’ [17]. Gynaecology is a comparative latecomer, not appearing before the 1840s.
\ \ Cf.QUEEN, ZENANA

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Gynaecology — or gynecology (see spelling differences) refers to the surgical specialty dealing with health of the female reproductive system (uterus, vagina and ovaries). Literally, outside medicine, it means the science of women . Almost all modern… …   Wikipedia

  • gynaecology — n. The branch of medicine that deals with the diseases and hygiene of women; same as {gynecology}. Syn: gynecology. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • gynaecology — meaning ‘the physiological study of women’, is pronounced with a hard initial g. The spelling is ae in BrE and e (gynecology) in AmE …   Modern English usage

  • gynaecology — (US gynecology) ► NOUN ▪ the branch of physiology and medicine concerned with the functions and diseases specific to women and girls, especially those affecting the reproductive system. DERIVATIVES gynaecological adjective gynaecologically adverb …   English terms dictionary

  • gynaecology — [19] The Greek word for ‘woman’ was guné. It has relatives in several modern Indo European languages, including Swedish kvinna, Danish kvinde, Irish Gaelic bean, Welsh benyw, Czech zhena, Russian zhenshchina, Persian zan (whence ultimately… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • gynaecology — [[t]ga͟ɪnɪkɒ̱ləʤi[/t]] N UNCOUNT Gynaecology is the branch of medical science which deals with women s diseases and medical conditions. Derived words: gynaecologist plural N COUNT Gynaecologists at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital have successfully… …   English dictionary

  • gynaecology — chiefly British variant of gynecology …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • gynaecology — n. the study of diseases of women and girls, particularly those affecting the female reproductive system. Compare obstetrics. • gynaecological adj. • gynaecologist n …   Medical dictionary

  • gynaecology — gy|nae|col|o|gy BrE gynecology AmE [ˌgaınıˈkɔlədʒi US ˈka: ] n [U] the study and treatment of medical conditions and illnesses that affect only women, and usually relating to a woman s ability to have babies >gynaecologist n >gynaecological …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • gynaecology — gy|nae|col|o|gy [ ,gaınə kalədʒi ] the British spelling of gynecology …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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