-rrhea

American  

Also -rhea,

1. a combining form meaning “flow,” “discharge,” used in the formation of compound words.

   gonorrhea.

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Usage

What does -rrhea mean? The combining form -rrhea is used like a suffix meaning “flow” or "discharge." It is often used in medical terms, especially in pathology. The form -rrhea comes from the Greek rhoía, meaning “a flow" (like a stream). In Greek, the word rhoía helped form the Greek diárrhoia, literally “a flowing through,” source of the English diarrhea. Cha cha cha. What are variants of -rrhea?Variants of -rrhea include -rhea (spelled with a single r) and, chiefly in British English, -rrhoea and -rhoea (spelled with an o). The British English spelling of diarrhea is diarrhoea, for instance.

Etymology

Origin of -rrhea

From New Latin -rrhoea, from Greek -rrhoia, combining form representing rhoía “a flow,” akin to rheîn “to flow, stream”