English word cancer comes from Proto-Indo-European *sker-, Proto-Indo-European *gen-, Ancient Greek (to 1453) καρκίνος, Italian crab, and later Proto-Italic *karkros (Enclosure, barrier.)
| Dictionary entry | Language | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| *sker- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | cut, to turn, bend, to bend, turn, shear, to twist, bend, dung, manure |
| *gen- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | to pinch, squeeze, bend, press together, ball3, to pinch, squeeze, bend, press, ball up |
| καρκίνος | Ancient Greek (to 1453) (grc) | |
| crab | Italian (ita) | |
| *karkros | Proto-Italic (itc-pro) | Enclosure, barrier. |
| *gong- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| cancer | Latin (lat) | A crab. A lattice, grid, or barrier. A tumor, cancer. |
| cancer | French (fra) | Cancer. |
| cancer | English (eng) | (figuratively) Something damaging that spreads throughout something else.. (medicine, oncology, disease) A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (and often rapid) proliferation. |