adeno-

combining form

: gland

adenocarcinoma

: adenoid

adenovirus

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, from Greek aden-, adḗn "gland" (of uncertain origin) + New Latin -o- -o-

Note: Greek adḗn "gland" is traditionally compared with Old Norse økkr "lump, tumor, swelling" (going back to *engʷo-) and Latin inguen "swelling on the groin, groin." However, adḗn, if it reflects Indo-European *n̥g^w-ēn, would seem to come from a vowel-initial root *eng^w-, which violates a generally accepted constraint on vowel-initial roots in Indo-European; on the other hand, if the root were laryngeal-initial, the form *h₁ng^w- should have yielded *end- in Greek, this allegedly being the regular outcome of the sequence laryngeal/resonant/stop. Hence adḗn may be without Indo-European congeners.