entry
diabetic
/ˌdaɪəˈbɛtɪk/Relating to diabetes; a person with diabetes
From Late Greek, via Medical Latin diabetes (A passer-through).
Word Ancestry
Picture a physician in Alexandria in the second century watching a patient drink endlessly and pass urine almost as quickly as it arrived. Aretaeus the Cappadocian reportedly gave the condition its Greek name διαβήτης, imagining liquid running straight through the body like water through a siphon. The same Greek word could also mean a drafting compass, because its two legs stood apart—a wonderfully concrete image hiding inside a modern medical term. English added the suffix -ic, a tiny linguistic tag meaning “pertaining to,” and recorded diabetic around 1715. By 1840, the adjective had become a noun as well, naming the person with the condition; much later, the film A Night at the Roxbury helped give diabetic a joking slang sense meaning “awesome” or “outrageous,” though that usage is nonstandard. Remember the compass: diabetes began as something that seemed to let fluid pass straight through, and diabetic simply marks what belongs to that strange “passer-through” condition.
The Story
Picture a physician in Alexandria in the second century watching a patient drink endlessly and pass urine almost as quickly as it arrived. Aretaeus the Cappadocian reportedly gave the condition its Greek name διαβήτης, imagining liquid running straight through the body like water through a siphon. The same Greek word could also mean a drafting compass, because its two legs stood apart—a wonderfully concrete image hiding inside a modern medical term. English added the suffix -ic, a tiny linguistic tag meaning “pertaining to,” and recorded diabetic around 1715. By 1840, the adjective had become a noun as well, naming the person with the condition; much later, the film A Night at the Roxbury helped give diabetic a joking slang sense meaning “awesome” or “outrageous,” though that usage is nonstandard. Remember the compass: diabetes began as something that seemed to let fluid pass straight through, and diabetic simply marks what belongs to that strange “passer-through” condition.
Modern Usage
A joking term meaning awesome, fantastic, or outrageous
Popularized by: A Night at the Roxbury
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entry citing A Night at the Roxbury
Kin & Kindred
From 'diabetes'·A passer-through, siphon; excessive discharge of urine
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '-ic'·Pertaining to, characterized by, or resembling
Derived Terms
English words from this root