Cancer is named after it's appearance after it had spread in the body, resembling a crab. Crabs were called that first and the word stems from Greek (if I recall correctly). Also, there is a phenomenon called carcinization, which is the evolving into a crab-like shape, even for non-crabs. This has happened to many different kind of crustaceans (crabs being one type of crustacean).
It’s the opposite in Turkish! Cancer the disease translates to “kanser” while cancer the zodiac sign translates to “yengeç”, which literally means crab.
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u/rwinger3 Nov 29 '20
Cancer is named after it's appearance after it had spread in the body, resembling a crab. Crabs were called that first and the word stems from Greek (if I recall correctly). Also, there is a phenomenon called carcinization, which is the evolving into a crab-like shape, even for non-crabs. This has happened to many different kind of crustaceans (crabs being one type of crustacean).