Institute for the History of Medicine and Medical Ethics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Prostate. 2010 Jun 15;70(9):952-8. doi: 10.1002/pros.21129.
We comprehensively review the history of the terms "ureter" and "urethra" from 700 BC to the present.
Using a case study approach, ancient medical texts were analyzed to clarify the etymology and use of both terms. In addition, selected anatomy textbooks from the 15th to 17th centuries were searched to identify and compare descriptions, illustrations, and various expressions used by contemporary authors to designate the upper and lower parts of the urinary tract.
The Ancient Greek words "ureter" and "urethra" appear early in Hippocratic and Aristotelian writings. However, both terms designated what we today call the urethra. It was only with increasing anatomical knowledge in Greek medical texts after the 1st century AD that definitions of these words evolved similar to those we employ today. Numerous synonyms were used which served as a basis for translation into Arabic and later Latin during the transfer of ancient knowledge to the cultures of the medieval period. When Greek original texts and their Arabic-Latin version were compared during the Renaissance, this led to terminological confusion which could only be gradually overcome. Around the year 1600, the use of the latinized terms "ureter" and "urethra" became generally accepted. The dissemination of these terms in modern national languages and the emergence of clinical derivatives complete this historical development.
The history of the terms "ureter" and "urethra" is exemplary of the difficulties with which the development of a precise urologic terminology had to struggle. The story behind the words also clarifies why even today we still have imprecise or misleading terms.
我们全面回顾了“输尿管”和“尿道”这两个术语从公元前 700 年至今的历史。
采用案例研究的方法，分析了古代医学文本，以阐明这两个术语的词源和用法。此外，还搜索了 15 至 17 世纪的精选解剖学教科书，以确定和比较当代作者用来指定上尿路和下尿路的描述、插图和各种表达方式。
古希腊语单词“ureter”和“urethra”在希波克拉底和亚里士多德的著作中很早就出现了。然而，这两个术语都指定了我们今天所说的尿道。只有在公元 1 世纪以后，希腊医学文本中解剖学知识的不断增加，这些术语的定义才逐渐演变成与我们今天使用的定义相似。在将古代知识转移到中世纪文化的过程中，使用了许多同义词，这些同义词成为翻译为阿拉伯语和后来拉丁语的基础。在文艺复兴时期，当比较希腊原文及其阿拉伯语-拉丁语版本时，这导致了术语上的混淆，这种混淆只能逐渐克服。大约在 1600 年，拉丁语化的术语“ureter”和“urethra”的使用变得普遍接受。这些术语在现代民族语言中的传播以及临床衍生词的出现完成了这一历史发展。
“输尿管”和“尿道”这两个术语的历史是一个典范，说明了精确的泌尿科术语发展所面临的困难。这些词背后的故事也解释了为什么即使在今天，我们仍然有不精确或容易产生误导的术语。
