disc
UK[dɪsk]US[dɪsk]
n
A flat, thin, round object.
n
A piece of cartilage between the bones of the spine.
n
A storage device for a computer, such as a hard disk or optical disc.
Etymology
The word 'disc' entered English in the mid-17th century, borrowed directly from the Latin 'discus'. Its ultimate origin lies in ancient Greek, where 'diskos' referred to a specific type of flat, heavy object—a discus—thrown in athletic competitions. This concrete meaning of a round, flat shape provided the foundational logic for the term's semantic expansion. Over centuries, the word's application broadened metaphorically to describe any similarly shaped object, from anatomical structures like spinal discs to modern data storage media, while consistently retaining its core sense of a flat, circular form.
Analysis
The word 'disc' is a simplex loanword. It is derived from the Latin word 'discus', which itself came from the Greek 'diskos', meaning a quoit, disc, or dish. The Greek term originated from the verb 'dikein', meaning 'to throw'.
Examples
He slipped a compact disc into the player.
She suffered from a herniated disc in her lower back.
The ancient artifact was a carved stone disc.