Cancer had three meanings in Latin: 1. crab; 2. sign of the Zodiac; 3. cancer. The third entry in Lewis and Short is "In medicine, a crawling, eating, suppurating ulcer, malignant tumor, a cancer". The citations are from Aulus Cornelius Celsus [fl. 20-30 CE] (De medicina), Publius Ovidus Naso [43 BCE - 17 CE] (Metamorphoses), and Marcus Portius Cato [aka Cato the Elder; 234 - 149 BCE] (De re reustica). Celsus has the most citations, especially in the fifth book:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Celsus/5*.html

The Latin term cancer 'crab' for cancer predates the English language.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.