hypochondre

Hypochondre is a French term with two principal senses. In anatomy, l’hypochondre refers to the upper lateral region of the abdomen on either side, located beneath the costal margins. In the standard nine-region division of the abdomen, the right and left hypochondriac regions flank the epigastric region and lie near the lower edge of the rib cage, underpinning portions of the liver on the right and the stomach and spleen on the left.

In a medical and everyday context, hypochondre can also denote a person who is excessively worried about their health. The corresponding noun is un hypochondre, though more common today is hypocondriaque when describing a person. The condition is commonly referred to as hypochondrie; in contemporary psychiatry the persistent health anxiety is described as illness anxiety disorder, or, if somatic symptoms are present, as a somatic symptom disorder. In casual usage, hypochondriac is often used to characterize someone who habitually fears illness, sometimes without objective medical justification.

Etymology traces hypochondre to Greek roots meaning “under cartilage,” reflecting the anatomical location beneath the rib cage. The term has historical prevalence in anatomy and medicine and remains found in both clinical vocabulary and everyday language, though the medical framing has shifted toward more specific diagnostic labels in modern psychiatry.