The linguistic foundations of science and technology include many terms that have been borrowed from ancient languages. In the case of terms with origins in the Greek language, the modern meaning can often differ significantly from the original one. Here we use the PubMed database to demonstrate the prevalence of words of Greek origin in the language of modern science, and call for scientists to exercise care when coining new terms.

doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43514, hdl.handle.net/1765/115381
eLife
Department of Immunology

Iliopoulos, I., Ananiadou, S., Danchin, A., Ioannidis, J., Katsikis, P., Ouzounis, C. A., & Promponas, V.J. (2019). Hypothesis, analysis and synthesis, it's all Greek to me. eLife, 8. doi:10.7554/eLife.43514