Orchid- Words: “anorchidism” to “vaso-orchidostomy”
Words that include: orchido-, orchid-, orchio-, orchi-,
-orchium (Greek > Latin: testes; testicles).
The terms testis (singular) and testes (plural) refer to the male reproductive gland (or glands), the source of spermatozoa and of the androgens, usually paired in an external scrotum in man and certain other mammals. The word testicle is a diminutive of testis.
anorchism, anorchidism:
Absence of the testes; may be congenital or acquired.
anorchus:
A person having no testes; also, one whose testes are undescended.
cryptorchid:
A condition in which there is an undescended testicle or testicles.
cryptorchidectomy:
Surgical removal of undescended testicles.
cryptorchism, cryptorchidism:
1. Condition of having an undescended testicle or testicles.
2. Failure of one or both of the testes to descend.
hydrorchis:
A collection of water (hydrocele) in the testis, as in the tunica vaginalis or along the spermatic cord.
hyperorchidism:
1. Excessive internal secretion of the testicles.
2. Said to be an obsolete term for increased size or increased functioning of the testes.
hyporchidism:
Decreased internal secretion of the testicles.
macroorchidism:
Having abnormally large testes; seen in males with fragile X syndrome.
mesorchium, mesorchial:
1. Peritoneal fold supporting the testis in the fetus.
2. In the fetus, a fold of tunica vaginalis testis (the serous membrane surrounding the front and sides of the testicle) supporting the mesonephros and the developing testis.
3. In the adult, a fold of tunica vaginalis testis between the testis and epididymis.
microrchidia:
Having very small testes.
monorchid, monorchidism, monorchidic:
Having only one testicle or apparently having only one while the other one is undescended.
monorchis:
A person or animal with only one testicle.
monorchism:
The condition of having only one testicle.
orchalgia, orchialgia, orchiodynia, orchioneuralgia:
Pain in the testis.
orchectomy:
Excision of the testes; castration.
orchesiphlation:
An operation on or the removal of the testes to sterilize.
orchic:
Pertaining to or derived from the testicles.
orchichorea:
1. Involuntary rising and falling movements of the testes.
2. A twitching or jerking movement of a testis.
orchid (flower):
1. Any plant of the orchis family, often remarkable for brilliancy of color or grotesqueness (bizarre, outlandish) of form, in some cases resembling various insects and other animals. Orchids are often epiphytes that grow upon trees without taking nourishment from them. They usually have their stems swollen into fleshy pseudobulbs that store water and mineral nutrients available from rain, dew, and dust; many exotic species are now cultivated for their beauty.
2. Any member of the family Orchidaceae; plants have complex, specialized irregular flowers usually with only one or two stamens.
3. A well defined family of monocotyledons comprising 15 000 to 30 000 species in 600 to 800 genera of strongly mycotrophic terrestrial or often epiphytic herbs; cosmopolitan in distribution but most abundant and diverse in tropical forests; characterized by numerous, often bizarre specializations for pollination by particular species of insects; usually green and commonly *crassulacean acid metabolism; producing from a thousand to several millions of tiny seeds with a minute undifferentiated embryo which require association with an appropriate fungus for successful germination. *Crassulacean acid metabolism refers to the fixation of carbon dioxide in the dark into organic acids which are used in photosynthesis by day.
Orchids were once called "ballocks stones" (ballock’s-grass is an old name for various sorts of wild orchids), "dogstones", and similar names because their tubers (roots) resemble human testicles. The name "orchid" derives from orchis, the Greek for “testicle”. The Latin form orchis was taken by botanists of the 16th and 17th centuries as the basis for the plant’s scientific name.
Orchid came into English about 1845 borrowed from New Latin Orchideae, Orchidaceae, the plant’s family name, and was assigned by Linnaeus in 1751, from orchid-, erroneously assumed as the stem of Latin orchis.
The resemblance of orchid roots to “testicles” more than 2 000 years ago led to the mistaken belief that orchids possess aphrodisiac properties. The identity of the true male orchis of the Greeks and Romans has never been established. Mystery still surrounds this magic plant whose root was dissolved in goat’s milk by the ancients. One drink of this solution, wrote one incredulous historian, and a man could perform sex as many as 70 consecutive times.
Orchis is supposed to have been the main ingredient of satyrion, the love food of those lecherous satyrs of Greek mythology. The orchid, the Turkish orchis morio, the truffle, the mandrake, and several other plants have been credited with being the male orchis (aphrodisiac) of the ancients, but the true identity of satyrion is probably lost for all time; unless you count ™Viagra as its replacement.
—Information for this section is based on data from the following sources:
The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
by Robert K. Barnhart, published by H. W. Wilson Company, 1988.
Dictionary of Word Origins
by John Ayto, Arcade Publishing, New York, 1990.
Encyclopedia Britannica,
published by Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.; Volume 16, 1968.
Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins
by Robert Hendrickson, published by Facts On File, Inc., 1997.
orchidacean:
One who devotes himself/herself to the cultivation of orchids (flowers); an orchid (flower) fancier.
orchidaceous:
Resembling an orchid (flower) in some way, especially in being showy.
orchidalgia:
Pain in the testis.
orchidatrophy, orchidatrophia:
Atrophy or shrinking of the testis.
orchidean, orchideous:
Belonging to the Orchideae, orchidaceous; pertaining to or characteristic of an orchid (flower).
orchidectomy:
Orchiectomy.
orchidic:
Relating to the testis.
orchidist:
A cultivator of orchids (flowers); an orchid fancier.
orchiditis, orchitis, orchitic:
Inflammation of the testis.
orchidoepididymectomy:
The operation of excising the testis and epididymis (the elongated cordlike structure along the posterior border of the testis, whose elongated coiled duct provides for storage, transit, and maturation of spermatozoa and is continuous with the ductus deferens. It consists of a head [caput epididymis], body [corpus epididymis], and tail [cauda epididymis]).
orchidology:
The study of orchids (flowers).
orchidometer:
1. A caliper device used to measure the size of the testes.
2. A set of sized models of testes for comparison of testicular development.
orchidoncus:
A tumor of a testis.
orchidopathy, orchidopathic:
Disease of the testes.
orchidopexy, orchiopexy, orchidorraphy:
1. Fixation of the testis in the scrotum, usually in cases of undescensus.
2. Surgical treatment of an undescended testicle by freeing it and implanting it into the scrotum.
orchidoplasty, orchioplasty:
Plastic surgery of the testis.
orchidoptosis:
Ptosis (drooping) of the male gonads.
orchiectomy:
Removal of one or both testes.
orchiencephaloma:
Embryonal carcinoma.
orchiepididymitis:
Inflammation of the testis and epididymis.
orchilytic, orchitolytic:
Destroying testicular tissue.
orchiocatabasis:
Descent of the testis.
orchiocele:
1. Hernial protrusion of a testis.
2. Scrotal hernia.
3. Tumor of a testis.
4. A testis retained in the inguinal canal.
orchiomyeloma:
Plasmacytoma (malignant tumor of plasma cells) of the testis.
orchiodynia:
Pain in the testes.
orchioncus:
1. A neoplasm (new and abnormal formation of tissue) of the testis.
2. Tumor of the testis.
orchioneuralgia:
Orchialgia (pain in the testes).
orchiopathy:
Any disease of the testis.
orchiopexy, orchiorrhaphy:
Surgical fixation of the testis in the scrotum, usually in cases of undescensus.
orchioplasty:
Surgical reconstruction of the testis.
orchioscheocele:
Scrotal tumor with scrotal hernia.
orchioscirrhus:
Hardening of the testes.
orchiotherapy:
Medical treatment with testicular extracts.
orchiotomy, orchotomy:
Incision and drainage of a testis.
orchis (singular), orchises (plural):
Testis, testes.
orchitic:
1. Pertaining to, causing, or affected with orchitis.
2. Denoting orchitis.
orchitis:
Inflammation of the testis. The disease is marked by pain, swelling, and a feeling of weight. It may occur idiopathically, or it may be associated with conditions such as mumps, gonorrhea, filarial disease, syphilis, or tuberculosis.
orchotomy:
Excision of the testicles; castration.
periorchitis:
Inflammation of the tunica vaginalis testis.
polyorchis, polyorchism, polyorchidism:
1. Having more than two testicles.
2. Presence of one or more supernumerary testes.
pseudocryptorchism:
A condition in which the testes descend to the scrotum but continue to move up and down, rising high in the inguinal canal at one time and descending to the scrotum at another.
synorchism, synorchidism:
Fusion of the testicles, usually within the abdomen or scrotum.
triorchism:
A condition in which there are three testes.
vaso-orchidostomy: Reestablishment of the interrupted seminiferous channels by uniting the tubules of the epididymis or of the rete testis to the divided end of the vas deferens.
Quiz
You may take a self-scoring quiz over some of the words in this section by just clicking on
Orchid Quiz to see how much you know.