varix

English

Etymology

Via Middle English varix from Latin varix, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wers-. See also Old Church Slavonic врьхъ (vrĭxŭ, “top, peak”), Ancient Greek ἕρμα (hérma, “reef, rock, hill”), Lithuanian viršus (“top”).

Noun

varix (plural varices)

1. (medicine) A varicose, i.e. swollen and knotted, vein.
2. (zoology) In mollusks, a particular ridge on the shell, corresponding to a former position of the aperture.
   • 1995, Geerat J. Vermeij, A Natural History of Shells‎^[1], page 31:

     In the personid genus Distorsio, varix formation is accompanied by a reorientation of the aperture.

Related terms

• variceal

Translations

varicose vein

• Bulgarian: разширена вена f (razširena vena)
• German: Krampfader (de) f
• Icelandic: æðahnútur (is) m
• Italian: vena varicosa f, varice (it) f
• Latin: varix m or m

Anagrams

• arXiv

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *wers- (“highland, high”). See also varus, Old Church Slavonic врьхъ (vrĭxŭ, “top, peak”), Ancient Greek ἕρμα (hérma, “reef, rock, hill”) and Lithuanian viršus (“top”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯a.riks/, [ˈu̯ärɪks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈva.riks/, [ˈväːriks]

Noun

varix m or f (genitive varicis); third declension

1. (medicine) a varicose vein

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	varix	varicēs
Genitive	varicis	varicum
Dative	varicī	varicibus
Accusative	varicem	varicēs
Ablative	varice	varicibus
Vocative	varix	varicēs

Derived terms

• varicōsus
• varicula

Descendants

• Catalan: variu, variça
• French: varice
• Galician: variz
• Italian: varice
• Portuguese: variz
• Spanish: variz, várice, varice

References

• “varix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “varix”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• varix in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)