The Alchemy of Jargon: Etymologies of urologic Neologisms: Number I - Introduction to the series

BACKGROUND. As the scientific community is increasingly severed from the study of linguistics, once an imperative for all scholars, the underlying significance of their common technical words is becoming blurred. This series of notes will focus on the etymologies of technical scientific terms pertinent to the biomedical sciences in general and to urology in particular.METHODS. These notes will give a detailed background of the history of each technical term, including how it came into being, whence it was derived, and how it impacted the scientific community through the ages.RESULTS. In this installment, the following terms will by analyzed: Jargon, Neologism, Nonce, Doctorate, Medicine, Graduate, Philosophy, and Philology. CONCLUSIONS. This analysis of the history and significance of scientific terms common to the urological community works towards a fortification of their power by offering a reminder of their origins.