GC: n
S: WHO – http://www.who.int/cancer/treatment/en/ (last access: 1 March 2015); DORLAND p. 1086.
N: 1. plural lymphomata, 1867, from lymph (1725 in physiology sense, “colorless fluid found in the body,” from French lymphe, from Latin lympha “water, clear water, a goddess of water,” variant of lumpæ “waters,” altered by influence of Greek nymphe “goddess of a spring, nymph”; the word was used earlier in English in the classical sense “pure water, water” (1620s), also (1670s) with reference to colorless fluids in plants; also see lymphatic; lymph node is attested from 1892) + -oma (word-forming element, from Greek -oma, with lengthened stem vowel + -ma, suffix forming neuter nouns and nouns that indicate result of verbal action (equivalent of Latin -men); especially taken in medical use as “morbid growth, tumor,” based on sarcoma, carcinoma).
2. A general term for cancers (malignant tumors) that develop in the lymphic system, affecting the body’s immune system.
3. Most lymphomas develop in the lymph nodes, with the rest arising in lymphoid tissue elsewhere in the body. There are two basic kinds of lymphomas: Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (which is composed of a number of different lymphomas).
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=lymphoma&searchmode=none (last access: 1 March 2015). 2 & 3. TERMIUMPLUS.
SYN: malignant lymphoma
S: TERMIUMPLUS
