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Origin
Apr 27, 2013 20:08:39 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Apr 27, 2013 20:08:39 GMT -5
The name "melancholia" comes from the old medical belief of the four humors: disease or ailment being caused by an imbalance in one or other of the four basic bodily liquids, or humors.
Personality types were similarly determined by the dominant humor in a particular person. According to Hippocrates, melancholia was caused by an excess of black bile, hence the name, which means 'black bile', from Ancient Greek μέλας (melas), "dark, black", + χολή (kholĂ©), "bile"; a person whose constitution tended to have a preponderance of black bile had a melancholic disposition.
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