What is the origin of the term cesarean section?

Answer 1

Excerpted from Wikipedia ~ "Etymology :

There are three theories about the origin of the name:

1. The name for the procedure is said to derive from a Roman legal code called "Lex Caesarea", which allegedly contained a law prescribing that the baby be cut out of its mother's womb in the case that she dies before giving birth.[4] (The Merriam-Webster dictionary is unable to trace any such law; but "Lex Caesarea" might mean simply "imperial law" rather than a specific statute of Julius Caesar.)
2. The derivation of the name is also often attributed to an ancient story, told in the first century A.D. by Pliny the Elder, which claims that an ancestor of Caesar was delivered in this manner.[5]
3. An alternative etymology suggests that the procedure's name derives from the Latin verb caedere (supine stem caesum), "to cut," in which case the term "Caesarean section" is redundant. Proponents of this view consider the traditional derivation to be a false etymology, though the supposed link with Julius Caesar has clearly influenced the spelling. (A corollary suggesting that Julius Caesar himself derived his name from the operation is refuted by the fact that the cognomen "Caesar" had been used in the Julii family for centuries before his birth,[6] and the Historia Augusta cites three possible sources for the name Caesar, none of which have to do with Caesarean sections or the root word caedere.)

The link with the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, or with Roman Emperors generally, exists in other languages as well. For example, the modern German, Danish, Dutch and Hungarian terms are respectively Kaiserschnitt, kejsersnit, keizersnede and császármetszés (literally: "Emperor's section").[7] The German term has also been imported into Japanese (帝王切開) and Korean (제왕 절개), both literally meaning "emperor incision." The South Slavic term is carski rez, which literally means caesarean cut, whereas the Western Slavic (Polish) has an analogous term: cesarskie cięcie. The Russian term kesarevo secheniye (кесарево сечение) literally means Caesar's section. The Arabic term (القيصرية) also means pertaining to Caesar or literally Caesarean. In Portugal it is usually called cesariana, meaning from (or related to) Caesar. The expression in Portuguese usually does not include other words to designate the section. Usual uses of the term are I'm going to have a cesariana next week or I was delivered by cesariana."

Answer 2

It was named after Emperor Caligula Caesar. Caligula forced his favourite sister Drusilla to live with him as his wife. Following the practice of the Egyptian pharaohs, it was said that when Drusilla became pregnant, Caligula couldn't wait for the birth of their god-like child and disemboweled her to pluck the unborn baby from her womb.

There were several Caesar's, the most famed of these was Julius Caesar, but he had absolutely nothing to do with the naming of Caesarian.

Jasper

The word is related to the name Caesar, but the name Caesar may be related to the verb caedo to cut. Tradition had it that the founder of the family had been born by caesarean section, long before the birth of Cleopatra's son Caesarean. You can look this stuff up, you know.

Well I am 100% wrong but I have heard that Julius Caesar had a son with Cleopatra in which she had to have her son cut out of her as she could not preform a natural birth and he was named Caesarean. I think that is where it is from.

Becci

It is hypothesized that the Cesarean section was named after Julius but that is wrong. Before they had technology such as today, they would only perform C-sections if the mother died before or during child birth, in which the doctor would cut the mother open to have the child. Julius Cesar was born naturally. If the Caesarean section is really named after Julius Cesar, it may be for a random reason with no logical explanation.

-Jull

Another theory is it is named after Caligula Caesar

Answer 3

The word comes from the name Caesar. It was thought that the first Caesar had been cut from his mother's womb, and that the name Caesar was derived from the verb caedo, to cut. Caesarean section has nothing to do with any of the various ancient persons named Caesarean, for example the son of Cleopatra. caesarean section started with a man named caesarean...he was aryan...like aryan brotherhood white supremesy......and they thought they where the perfect race so...and when a baby goes through natural child birth his/her head gets smashed so in order to be perfect the had to think of a way fro the mother to live and the baby to be perfect.....thus the caesarean section

Answer 4

Because Julius Caesar was the first person in history to be born through this process. But back in those days, the mother did not survive the process