Parotitis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A condition involving the swelling and inflammation of the parotid glands, often resulting in pain, potential fever, and sometimes complications related to the affected area
2. This ailment is marked by the enlargement of the parotid glands due to infection, causing symptoms such as discomfort and systemic effects like fever
3. An illness characterized by the inflammation and swelling of the parotid glands, which may lead to pain, fever, and possible complications affecting surrounding tissues

Etymology: Parotitis is a medical term built from Ancient Greek, and its parts are transparent once you split them. The first part comes from "parōtís," the Greek word for the gland behind the ear, itself formed from "para" (beside, near) and "ous" (ear), so the gland is literally the one lying beside the ear. The second part, "-itis," is the Greek suffix used for inflammation, which is why the same ending appears in "arthritis" and "bronchitis." The compound was assembled from these pieces in Greek as "parōtîtis," meaning disease of the parotid gland, and English took it over as a learned borrowing. The word is therefore a classical construction in the scientific sense: it describes swelling of that one gland by naming the gland and then the condition. Its most familiar instance today is mumps, which is the viral form of the illness.