spleen
English
/spliːn/
noun
Definitions
- (anatomy) In vertebrates, including humans, a ductless vascular gland, located in the left upper abdomen near the stomach, which destroys old red blood cells, removes debris from the bloodstream, acts as a reservoir of blood, and produces lymphocytes.
- (archaic) A bad mood; spitefulness.
- (obsolete) A sudden motion or action; a fit; a freak; a whim.
- (obsolete) Melancholy; hypochondriacal affections.
- A fit of immoderate laughter or merriment.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English splene derived from espleen derived from Old French esplein derived from Latin splēn (milt) derived from Ancient Greek σπλήν (spleen, milt).
Origin
Ancient Greek
σπλήν
Gloss
spleen, milt
Concept
Semantic Field
The body
Ontological Category
Person/Thing
Emoji
Timeline
Distribution of cognates by language
Geogrpahic distribution of cognates
Cognates and derived terms
- antispleen English
- spleened English
- spleenful English
- spleenfully English
- spleenish English
- spleenishly English
- spleenishness English
- spleenless English
- spleenlike English
- spleenwort English
- spleeny English
- spleno- English
- splenoid English
- unspleened English
- wort English
- splen Latin
- splenem, splen Latin
- splenium Latin
- splēn Latin
- splēnem Latin
- Spleen German
- spleen French
- σπλήν Ancient Greek
- σπληνίον Ancient Greek
- ἄσπληνον Ancient Greek
- प्लीहन् Sanskrit
- splene Middle English
- spleneles Middle English
- esplein Old French
- *spliHȷ́ʰā́ Proto-Indo-Iranian
- splin Tok Pisin
- espleen xno
- σπλήνα gkm