orchido-

American  

1. a combining form used, with the meaning “orchid,” “testicle,” in the formation of compound words.

   orchidology; orchidotomy.

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Usage

What does orchido- mean? Orchido- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning either “testicle” (testis) or "orchid." In medicine, it refers to testicles. In botany, it refers to orchid flowers.Orchido- comes from the Greek órchis, meaning “testicle.” How did the Greek word for testicle give rise to the name of a type of beautiful flower? Well, the roots of orchids were thought to resemble testicles. Learn more at our entry for orchis.What are variants of orchido-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, orchido- becomes orchid-, as in orchiditis. Another variant is orchi-, as in orchiectomy.The combining form orchio-, as in orchioplasty, is also used to represent "testicle" in medical terminology.

Etymology

Origin of orchido-

orchid- (erroneously taken as stem of Greek órchis orchis; orchid ) + -o-