Online Etymology Dictionary

Achilles: Gk. hero of the Trojan War stories, son of Thetis and Peleus, his name is perhaps a compound of akhos "pain, grief" (see awe) + laos "the people, a people;" or else it is from a pre-Greek language. Achilles tendon is from Mod.L. tendo Achillis, first used by Ger. surgeon Heister and so-called in reference to the one vulnerable spot of the great Gk. hero, whose mother held him by the heel when she dipped him in the River Styx to render him invulnerable (though this story is not in Homer and not found before 1c. C.E.). Earlier Achilles' sinew, from Mod.L. chorda Achillis, coined 1693 by Du. anatomist Philip Verheyden when dissecting his own amputated leg. Hence fig use of heel of Achillies for "vulnerable spot" (1810).
Fallopian tube: 1706, from Gabriello Fallopio (1523-1562), It. anatomist who first described them.
Pap test: 1963, short for Papanicolaou (1947) in ref. to George Nicholas Papanicolaou (1883-1962), Gk.-born U.S. anatomist who developed the technique of examining secreted cells to test for cancer.
epididymis: 1610, "fleshy mass at the back of the testicles" (jocularly called a taint), Mod.L., lit. "that which is on the testicles," from Gk. epididymis, a word probably coined by Gk. anatomist Herophilus (c.300 B.C.E.) from epi "on" + didymos "testicle," lit. "double, twofold" (adj.). "To save his Epididamies" [1652].
wisteria: 1819, formed by botanist Thomas Nuttall, Eng. botanist, in allusion to Amer. anatomist Caspar Wistar (1761-1818) of Philadelphia. The -e- apparently is a misprint.
chromosome: 1889, from Ger. Chromosom, coined 1888 by Ger. anatomist Wilhelm von Waldeyer-Hartz (1836-1921), from Gk. khroma "color" + soma "body." So called because the structures contain a substance that stains readily with basic dyes.
tissue: mid-14c., "band or belt of rich material," from O.Fr. tissu "a ribbon, headband, belt of woven material" (c.1200), noun use of tissu "woven, interlaced," pp. of tistre "to weave," from L. texere "weave" (see texture). The biological sense is first recorded 1831, from Fr., introduced c.1800 by Fr. anatomist Marie-François-Xavier Bichal (1771-1802). Tissue-paper is from 1777, supposedly so called because it was made to be placed between tissues to protect them. Meaning "piece of absorbent paper used as a handkerchief" is from 1929.
clitoris: 1615, coined in Mod.L., from Gk. kleitoris, a diminutive, but the exact sense is uncertain. Probably from Gk. kleiein "to sheathe," also "to shut," in reference to its being covered by the labia minora. The related noun form kleis has a second meaning of "a key, a latch or hook (to close a door)." Wooden pegs were the original keys; a connection also revealed in L. clovis "nail" and claudere "to shut" (see close (v.)). Some medical sources give a supposed Gk. verb kleitoriazein "to touch or titillate lasciviously, to tickle," lit. "to be inclined (toward pleasure)" (cf. Ger. slang der Kitzler "clitoris," lit. "the tickler"), related to Gk. kleitys, a variant of klitys "side of a hill," related to klinein "to slope," from the same root as climax. But many sources take kleitoris literally as Gk. "little hill." The It. anatomist Mateo Renaldo Colombo (1516-1559), professor at Padua, claimed to have discovered it (De re anatomica, 1559, p. 243). He called it amor Veneris, vel dulcedo "the love or sweetness of Venus." It had been known to women since much earlier, of course.
placenta: 1677, from Mod.L. placenta uterina "uterine cake" (so called 16c. by It. anatomist Realdo Colombo), from L. placenta "flat cake," from Gk. plakoenta, accusative of plakoeis "flat," related to plax "anything flat," from PIE *plak-, extended form of base *pele- (see plane (n.)). So called from the shape.
areola: "colored circle around a nipple," 1706, from L., lit. "small area," dim. of area. Introduced in this sense 1605 by Swiss anatomist and botanist Caspar Bauhin (1560-1624).
mitosis: 1887, coined from Gk. mitos "warp thread" (see mitre) + Mod.L. -osis "act, process." Term introduced by Ger. anatomist Walther Fleming (1843-1905) in 1882. So called because chromatin of the cell nucleus appears as long threads in the first stages.
tympanum: "drum of the ear," 1619, from M.L. tympanum, introduced in this sense by It. anatomist Gabriele Fallopio (1523-62), from L. tympanum "drum," from Gk. tympanon "a drum, panel of a door," from root of typtein "to beat, strike" (see type). Cf. O.E. timpan "drum, timbrel, tambourine," From L. tympanum. The modern meaning "a drum" is attested in Eng. from 1675. Tympanist "one who plays on a drum" is recorded from 1611; since mid-19c. specifically of players on kettledrums.
Cowper's gland: 1738, so called because discovered by anatomist William Cowper (1666-1709); see Cooper.
sympathetic: 1640s, "pertaining to sympathy," from Mod.L. sympatheticus, from Gk. sympathetikos, from sympathein, from sympathes "having a fellow feeling, affected by like feelings" (see sympathy). Meaning "having fellow feeling" is recorded from 1718. In anatomical sense, the word is attested from 1769, from Mod.L. (nervus) sympathicus, coined by Jacques-Benigne Winslow (1669-1760), Danish anatomist living in Paris. Related: Sympathetically.
exoskeleton: 1847, from exo- + skeleton. Introduced by Eng. anatomist Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892).