Sarcomas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A category of malignant tumors that develop from mesenchymal tissues, including muscles, fat, and bones
2. Tumors that are cancerous, originating from connective tissues such as cartilage, muscle, or fat throughout the body
3. Malignant growths arising from tissues like bone, muscle, or fat, often aggressive and spreading in the body

Etymology: "Sarcomas" is the plural of "sarcoma," a word built from the Greek for "flesh." In ancient Greek, "sarx" meant flesh, and the suffix "-oma" (from "-ōma," a process or result) turned it into a term for a growth formed from it. The Latin form "sarcoma" carried the same construction into scientific use, and the medical sense of a tumour arising in connective tissue such as muscle, bone, or fat follows from that original image of fleshy growth. The Greek root is also the source of "sarcasm," which at first seems unrelated. Its underlying verb, "sarkazein," meant to tear flesh like dogs, and figuratively to speak bitterly, so the two words share a grim root in flesh even though their meanings diverged completely.