An abdominal organ involved in the production and removal of blood cells and forming part of the immune system; also, ill temper, spite, or melancholy.
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Greek via Latin13th centurywell-attested
Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sp(h)lḗgʰ- (spleen), which gave Greek splḗn (σπλήν) andLatin splēn, both meaning the organ. TheEnglishword arrived via Latin in the 13th century. The PIE root is also reflected in Sanskrit plīhan (spleen) and Old Church Slavonic slězena, confirming a common Eurasian anatomical term of great
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In humoral medicine, the spleen was the organ of 'black bile' (Greek 'melaina chole,' which gave us 'melancholy'). An excess of black bile, produced by the spleen, supposedlycaused depression, irritability, and spite. This is why 'to vent one's spleen' means to express anger, 'splenetic' means bad-tempered, and the spleen — an organ most people barely think about — became
splḗn (σπλήν)(Greek (spleen — direct source))splēn(Latin (spleen))plīhan(Sanskrit (spleen — PIE cognate))slězena(Old Church Slavonic (spleen))lien(French (spleen, from Latin lien))Milz(German (spleen — native Germanic))