urethritis (n.)

"canal through which urine is discharged from the bladder," 1630s, from Late Latin urethra, from Greek ourethra "the passage for urine," coined by Hippocrates from ourein "to urinate," from ouron (see urine). Related: Urethral.

word-forming element in medicine denoting "diseases characterized by inflammation" (of the specified part), Modern Latin, from Greek -itis, feminine of adjectival suffix -ites "pertaining to." Feminine because it was used with an implied nosos "disease," a feminine noun; especially in arthritis (nosos) "(disease) of the joints." Arthritis (16c.) was one of the earliest appearances of the suffix in English and from it the suffix was abstracted in other uses.