Symptom
Etymology
From Greek "symptoma," a chance happening or mishap, built from "syn-" (together) and "piptein" (to fall) — literally something that "falls together" with, or befalls, a person. The sense narrowed from any accidental occurrence to the specific bodily events that accompany disease.
noun · /SIMP-tuhm/
A change in the body or mind that a person notices and that may point to illness.
What it names
Reach for it when you mean what the patient feels and reports, as opposed to what a clinician can measure from outside.
Example
The rash was the first symptom she mentioned, but the fever was what worried the doctor.
Related idea
A symptom is subjective — pain, nausea, dizziness that only you can feel — while a sign is objective, something another person can observe or measure, like a temperature reading or a swollen joint. The same illness produces both.