HERNIA, in medicine and surgery, a descent of the intestines or omentum out of their natural place; or rather, the tumour formed by that descent, popularly called a rupture. The word is Latin, hernia, and originally signifies the same with tumor scroti, called also ramus. Priscian observes, that the ancient Mars gave the appellation hernia to rocks; whence some will have hernias thus called propter duritatem, on account of their hardness. Scaliger chooses rather to derive the word from the Greek ῥαμύς, ramus, branch. See (Index to) SURGERY.