symptom
SIMP-tuhm · noun
Origin
Symptom comes from Middle English sinthoma, from Medieval Latin sinthoma, reshaped under Late Latin symptoma, from Ancient Greek súmptōma, meaning 'a happening, accident, symptom of disease.'
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Journey
The Greek word traces back to sumpíptō, 'I befall,' built from sun- ('together') and píptō ('to fall') — so a symptom was originally something that 'falls together' with, or accompanies, a condition.
Related words
It shares its Greek root píptō ('to fall') with other words built on that stem, and the sun- prefix links it to the family of 'syn-' words meaning 'together.'