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ETYMOLOGY DICTIONARY:
- dysentery (n.)
- late 14c., dissenterie, from O.Fr. disentere (13c.), from L. dysenteria, from Gk. dysenteria, coined by Hippocrates, from dys- "bad, abnormal, difficult" (see dys-) + entera "intestines, bowels" (see inter-). Related: Dysenteric.
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- dys-
- word-forming element meaning "bad, ill, abnormal," from Gk. dys-, inseparable prefix "destroying the good sense of a word or increasing its bad sense" [Liddell and Scott], "bad, hard, unlucky," from PIE root (and prefix) *dus- "bad, ill, evil" (cf. Skt. dus-, O.Pers. duš- "ill," O.E. to-, O.H.G. zur-, Goth. tuz- "un-"), a derivative of *deu- "to lack, be wanting" (cf. Gk. dein "to lack, want"). Very productive in ancient Greek, where it could attach even to proper names (e.g. dysparis "unhappy Paris"); its entries take up nine columns in Liddell and Scott. Among the words formed from it were some English might covet: dysouristos "fatally favorable, driven by a too-favorable wind;" dysadelphos "unhappy in one's brothers;" dysagres "unlucky in fishing;" dysantiblepos "hard to look in the face."
- L. inter (prep., adv.) "among, between, betwixt, in the midst of," from PIE *enter "between, among" (cf. Skt. antar, O.Pers. antar "among, between," Gk. entera (pl.) "intestines," O.Ir. eter, O.Welsh ithr "among, between," Goth. undar, O.E. under "under"), a comparative of *en "in" (see in). Also in certain Latin phrases in English, such as inter alia "among other things." A living prefix in English from 15c. Spelled entre- in French, most words borrowed into English in that form were re-spelled 16c. to conform with Latin except entertain, enterprise.