"inflammation of the vermiform appendix," 1886, from Latin stem of appendix, in the medical sense, + -itis "inflammation."
Entries linking to appendicitis
appendix n.
1540s, "subjoined addition to a document or book," from Latin appendix "an addition, continuation, something attached," from appendere "cause to hang (from something)," from ad "to" (see ad-) + pendere "to hang" (from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw, stretch, spin").
It has been used for "small outgrowth of an internal organ" from 1610s, especially in reference to the vermiform appendix. This sense in English is perhaps from or influenced by French, where the word was in use in anatomy from 1540s.
-itis
word-forming element in medicine denoting "diseases characterized by inflammation" (of the specified part), Modern Latin, from Greek -itis, feminine of adjectival suffix -ites "pertaining to." Feminine because it was used with an implied nosos "disease," a feminine noun; especially in arthritis (nosos) "(disease) of the joints." Arthritis (16c.) was one of the earliest appearances of the suffix in English and from it the suffix was abstracted in other uses.