Page "Diabetes insipidus" Paragraph 28

The word " diabetes " ( or ) comes from Latin diabētēs, which in turn comes from Ancient Greek διαβήτης ( diabētēs ) which literally means “ a passer through ; a siphon ”.

Ancient Greek physician Aretaeus of Cappadocia ( fl.

in the first century CE ) used that word, with the intended meaning “ excessive discharge of urine ”, as the name for the disease.

Ultimately, the word comes from Greek διαβαίνειν ( diabainein ), meaning “ to pass through ”, which is composed of δια-( dia -), meaning “ through ” and βαίνειν ( bainein ), meaning “ to go ”.

The word “ diabetes ” is first recorded in English, in the form " diabete ", in a medical text written around 1425.