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black bile

noun

Etymology

Calque of Latin ātra bīlis, itself a calque of Ancient Greek μελαγχολία (melankholía).

  1. derived from μελαγχολία
  2. calqued from atra bilis

Definitions

  1. One of the four humours of ancient and mediaeval physiology, that was believed to be…

    One of the four humours of ancient and mediaeval physiology, that was believed to be secreted by the kidneys and spleen and to cause melancholy and sadness when present in excess.

    • But these various pursuits did not banish all her cares, or carry off all her constitutional black bile.
    • The problem with treating cancer surgically, Galen suggested, was that black bile was everywhere, as inevitable and pervasive as any fluid.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for black bile. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA