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cwnyth a day ago

Helio- is actually "sun", not "hole", and it's Greek, not Latin, but I 100% agree with you: it's pointless technical vocabulary that only serves to obfuscate. I think in this particular case, it's just some internet neologism (which is a good word, since coinage can mean a couple different things), made based on analogies with older phobias. For those of us who know Latin and Greek, though, all we can really do is shrug at the eagerness to make the clumsiest words possible.

ButlerianJihad a day ago | parent | next [-]

My headcanon is that the neologism was coined by Vicky Karayiannis, widow of Chris Cornell.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cornell#Personal_life

The modern Greek terms for "black hole" are:

μαύρη τρύπα or μελανή οπή

https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CE%B1%CF%8D%CF%81%CE%B7...

helio- cannot mean "star" in a generic way but invariably refers to our own Sun. If referring to some other star, then we use aster-.

antonvs a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The translation of the name appears to be intended as “black star fear”.

TeMPOraL a day ago | parent [-]

With the "black star" being the name for "black hole" back when they were purely theoretical idea.

brador a day ago | parent | prev [-]

What would be the correct latin/greek word for it?

stavros a day ago | parent | next [-]

Melanotrypophobia, although the Greek term is "mayri trypa", literally "black hole".

brador a day ago | parent [-]

Any relation to the words melancholy?

stavros a day ago | parent | next [-]

Yes, as the sibling said, melancholy means "black bile".

ButlerianJihad a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Yes, that is cognate with ancient Greek μελαγχολία, and with the same root: μέλας

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/melancholy

kortilla a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Hypochondriac