Catheter
early 17th century: from late Latin, from Greek kathetēr, from kathienai ‘send or let down’.
wiktionary
Borrowed from French cathéter, from Ancient Greek καθετήρ(kathetḗr, “surgical instrument for emptying the bladder”), from καθίημι(kathíēmi, “to descend, let down”) + -τήρ(-tḗr, “suffix forming masculine nouns from verbs”).
etymonline
catheter (n.)
"tubular instrument inserted to draw off urine from the bladder," c. 1600, from French cathéter, from Late Latin catheter "a catheter," from Greek katheter "surgical catheter," literally "anything let down," from stem of kathienai "to let down, thrust in," from kata "down" (see cata-) + stem of hienai "to send" (from PIE root *ye- "to throw, impel").
Earlier was cathirum (early 15c.), directly from Medieval Latin; in this sense Middle English also had argalia, via Medieval Latin from Arabic. Related: Catheterization; catheterized; catheterizing.
