AbstractThe study of medical language does not end with specialist terminology, it also includes the patient's language. Furthermore, language,e. g.in charms, is part of pre‐rational therapeutics. However, these aspects cannot be dealt with here; in keeping with the general theme of the meeting, the paper concentrates on the rôle of language as a means of passing on scientific knowledge. Medical terminology first developed in the classical age of Greece. Until the 19th century, knowledge was only passed on verbally. Since the middle of the last century, the presentation of scientific data etc. in charts has gained more and more importance. In the course of this process, terms which originally applied to the description of features in these charts, have come to be used independently outside this conte