DictionaryRoot: khondros
Greek
khondros
cartilage
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noun / adjective
hypochondriac
high-puh-KAHN-dree-ak/hˌaɪpʌkˈɑndriæk/
Excessively worried about having an illness, or a person with this worry.
Etymology
The region “under the cartilage” of the ribs was once considered a source of melancholy. A hypochondriac was therefore first a melancholy person, before the meaning narrowed to someone excessively worried about illness.