The term "diabetes mellitus" comes from a Greek word meaning "to siphon" and a Latin word meaning "sweet like honey." These words aptly describe the disorder, for water passes through the person who has diabetes as if it were being siphoned from the mouth through the urinary tract and right out of the body. Furthermore, the urine is sweet wit sugar. In fact, prior to the discovery of more efficient techniques, one test for diabetes was to pour a patient's urine near an anthill. If insects were attracted, this indicated the presence of sugar.