- cancer
- O.E. cancer "spreading sore, cancer" (also canceradl), from L. cancer "a crab," later, "malignant tumor," from Gk. karkinos, which, like the Mod.Eng. word, has three meanings: crab, tumor, and the zodiac constellation (late 14c. in English), from PIE base *qarq- "to be hard" (like the shell of a crab); cf. Skt. karkatah "crab," karkarah "hard;" and perhaps cognate with PIE base *qar-tu- "hard, strong," source of English hard. Greek physician Galen, among others, noted similarity of crabs to some tumors with swollen veins. Meaning "person born under the zodiac sign of Cancer" is from 1894. The sun being in Cancer at the summer solstice, the constellation had association in L. writers with the south and with summer heat. Cancer stick "cigarette" is from 1959.