Of Orchids and Testes
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 3:49 am
So I says to myself,
Self, If they remove my tonsils, the procedure is called a tonsillectomy.
So if they remove my testicles, why isn't the procedure called a testiclectomy. ?
Nope, it's called an orchiectomy.
Which means they are removing my orchies?
No, not exactly, they are removing my orchis, sort of.
Apparently the ancient Greeks called a testicle an orchis . (and where the word orchis originated I do not yet know). (And I don't know if orchi was for 1 and orchis was for 2)
Then back when botanists were discovering and naming flowers a genus was discovered and the bulb of this particular genus of flowering plants looks like a pair of testicles so it became a genus called orchis in the Orchid family. (Apparently they decided to call it orchis from the greek word for testicle........clever these botanists; not likely they would have named an Orchid genius as testicle).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchis
And the orchis bulb produces a nice erect stem. How appropriate.
The orchis genus is very prolific with many different types of flowering stems.
Just how "orchis" evolved to "testes" or "testicles" is rooted in Latin and Roman History. Since English, and most western languages, are well rooted from Latin, the Latin term "testis" , meaning "witness" somehow evolved to describe the dangling participles hanging below the penis. you really need to read about it at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testes (nice photo too).
This is one instance where a medical term "orchiectomy" reaches back to the ancient greek language instead of Latin.
I wonder if the San Diego musical group "Roots of Orchis" realizes the complete origin and meaning of their group's name.?
Whether it be a tuber, teste, testis, testicle, orchid, orchis, nut, ball, gonad, whatever, A rose by any other name is still a rose.
Happy gardening.
PS: "gonad" is also of greek origin, meaning either the testis or ovary, though to be more accurate a gonad is the sex organ before it adopts either the x or y chromosome to become either the male or female sex organ.
Self, If they remove my tonsils, the procedure is called a tonsillectomy.
So if they remove my testicles, why isn't the procedure called a testiclectomy. ?
Nope, it's called an orchiectomy.
Which means they are removing my orchies?
No, not exactly, they are removing my orchis, sort of.
Apparently the ancient Greeks called a testicle an orchis . (and where the word orchis originated I do not yet know). (And I don't know if orchi was for 1 and orchis was for 2)
Then back when botanists were discovering and naming flowers a genus was discovered and the bulb of this particular genus of flowering plants looks like a pair of testicles so it became a genus called orchis in the Orchid family. (Apparently they decided to call it orchis from the greek word for testicle........clever these botanists; not likely they would have named an Orchid genius as testicle).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchis
And the orchis bulb produces a nice erect stem. How appropriate.
The orchis genus is very prolific with many different types of flowering stems.
Just how "orchis" evolved to "testes" or "testicles" is rooted in Latin and Roman History. Since English, and most western languages, are well rooted from Latin, the Latin term "testis" , meaning "witness" somehow evolved to describe the dangling participles hanging below the penis. you really need to read about it at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testes (nice photo too).
This is one instance where a medical term "orchiectomy" reaches back to the ancient greek language instead of Latin.
I wonder if the San Diego musical group "Roots of Orchis" realizes the complete origin and meaning of their group's name.?
Whether it be a tuber, teste, testis, testicle, orchid, orchis, nut, ball, gonad, whatever, A rose by any other name is still a rose.
Happy gardening.
PS: "gonad" is also of greek origin, meaning either the testis or ovary, though to be more accurate a gonad is the sex organ before it adopts either the x or y chromosome to become either the male or female sex organ.
I was at ground zero for that one, concieved in the summer of love right in the middle of the SF Bay Area. To bad my folks weren't drugged out hippies. I got stuck with a psycho alcoholic who was a controlling bitch before all that women's shit got fired up! She was so obsessed I'd didn't get left with shit! Walked outta that house at eighteen with a grion full of ice for the road!
