Gyn

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A informal shortened term for the medical specialty dealing with women's reproductive health or for the doctor who practices it
2. A clipped informal label for gynecology, the branch of medicine concerned with the female reproductive system, or for a physician in that field
3. Shorthand used in casual medical speech for the study and treatment of women's reproductive health or for a specialist who provides that care

Etymology: Ancient Greek "gunē" meant "woman" and also "wife," and it gives English the combining form "gyn-." It never stands alone in English. It always attaches to something else, as in gynecology, the study of women's bodies, or gynoecium, the female part of a flower. The most surprising link is closer to home. "Gunē" shares its Proto-Indo-European ancestor with the English "queen," which came from Old English "cwēn," meaning woman or wife before it meant a ruler. The same root also produced "quean," which once meant any woman and later narrowed to a disreputable one.