iatrogenic

The term 'iatrogenic' is a modern medical coinage, directly constructed from classical Greek elements to describe a specific category of harm. The first element, iatro-, derives from iatros, the ancient Greek word for a healer or physician, a figure central to medical practice. The second element, -genic, originates from the Greek suffix -genēs, meaning 'born from' or 'produced by', which itself comes from the prolific Proto-Indo-European root ǵenh₁-, 'to beget, give birth'. Thus, the literal compounding of these parts yields 'physician-born'. Over time, this literal sense evolved into the modern, more abstract clinical meaning: any adverse condition or complication that is inadvertently induced in a patient by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures.

Structure: iatro (physician) + genic (producing) iatro- (from Greek iatros, meaning 'physician' or 'healer'); -genic (from Greek -genēs, meaning 'born of, produced by', from the root gen- 'to produce, give birth').