A swelling or tumor affecting a joint, representing a pathological enlargement of joint tissue.
From Greek arthron (joint) combined with -oncus (from Greek ogkos meaning 'bulk' or 'swelling'). The term emerged in medieval medical Latin to describe the visible tumefaction of diseased joints.
This word is a fossil from an era when doctors named diseases by literally describing what they saw—a 'joint-swelling'—before we had microscopes or imaging technology to understand what was actually happening inside.
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