jaundice
JAWN-diss · noun
Origin
Jaundice comes from Middle English jaundis, from Middle French jaunisse, built from jaune ("yellow") plus the suffix -isse ("-ness"). Jaune itself traces back through Old French jalne to Latin galbinus ("yellowish"), from galbus ("yellow").
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Journey
The word began as a plain description of yellowness and settled into English as the name for the yellow-skinned condition itself, with the color built right into its bones.
Related words
It shares its root with jaune, the French word for "yellow," and ultimately with Latin galbus, so at heart this is just "yellowness" wearing a medical coat.