19th Century Medical Terms & Diseases
Page Compiled by
Alma E Dailey-Harings
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ablepsy | blindness |
| Abscess (Boil) |
A swollen, inflamed area of the body where pus gathers. A
localized collection of pus buried in tissues, organs, or confined spaces
of the body, often accompanied by swelling and inflammation and frequently
caused by bacteria. |
| Acute |
Severe |
| Addison's disease |
A disease characterized by severe weakness, low
blood pressure, and a bronzed coloration of the skin, due to decreased secretion
of cortisol from the adrenal gland. Synonyms: Morbus addisonii, bronzed
skin disease. |
| Aegrotantem | illness, sickness |
| Aglutitio |
inability
to swallow, frequently found on death certificates |
| Ague |
Recurring fever and chills of malaria. Malaria or intermittent
fever characterized by paroxysms (stages of chills, fever, and sweating
at regularly recurring times) and followed by an interval or intermission
of varying duration. Popularly, the disease was known as "fever and ague,"
"chill fever," "the shakes," and by names expressive of the locality in
which it was prevalent, such as, "swamp fever" (in Louisiana), "Panama fever,"
and "Chagres fever." |
| Ague Cake |
a hard tumor or swelling on the left side of the abdomen, lower than the
false rib, resulting from enlargement of the spleen or liver, and supposed
to be the effect of intermitting fevers .
A form of enlargement of the spleen, resulting from the action of malaria
on the system |
| Ancome
|
an ulcerous
swelling, a boil |
| Ambustio | A burn or scald |
| Anasarca | Generalized edema or generalized dropsy |
| Anchylosis |
A stiffening of the joints |
| Aphonia |
A lost of voice due to organic or psychological
causes. Also known as Laryngitis |
| Aphtha |
The infant disease known as thrush |
| Apoplexy |
stroke |
| Ascetics |
Accumulation of serious fluid in the abdominal
cavity |
| Asphycsia/Asphicsia |
Cyanotic and lack of oxygen |
| Atrophy |
Wasting away
or diminishing in size. |
| Bad Blood |
syphilis |
| Barrell Fever |
sickness
produced by immoderate drinking |
| Barbers Itch |
Ringworm of the beard |
| Bilious fever |
fever caused by liver disorder |
| Black Death |
Bubonic
plague |
| Black Fever |
Acute infection with high temperature and dark red skin
lesions and high mortality rate |
| Black Lung |
|
| Black Pox |
Black Small
pox |
| Black water Fever |
Dark urine associated with high temperature |
| Bladder in Throat |
Diphtheria (Seen on Death Certificates) |
| Blood Poisoning |
Bacterial infection; septicemia |
| Bloody Flux |
dysentery |
| Bloody Sweat |
a sweat accompanied by a discharge of blood |
| Boil |
An abscess of skin or painful inflammation of the
skin or a hair follicle usually caused by a staphylococcal infection. Synonym:
furuncle. |
| Bone Shave |
Sciatica |
| Brain Fever |
Meningitis |
| Breakbone |
Dengue Fever |
| Bright's Disease |
inflammation of the kidneys-in it's acute form,
it is called "nephritis". |
| Cachexy |
Malnutrition |
| Catarrh | Inflammation of mucous membrane most commonly in the throat and nose, accompanied by an increased secretion mucous, sometimes accompanied by fever, or, rarely cerebral hemorrhage |
| Cacospysy |
irregular pulse |
| Cacogastric |
Upset Stomach |
| Canker |
Ulceration of mouth or lips aka herpes simplex
2 |
| Cancer |
A malignant and invasive growth or tumor. In the
nineteenth century, cancerous tumors tended to ulcerate, grew constantly,
and progressed to a fatal end and that there was scarcely a tissue they
would not invade. Synonyms: malignant growth, carcinoma. |
| Canine Madness |
Rabies, hydrophobia |
| Cancrum otis (canker sore) |
A severe, destructive, eroding ulcer of the cheek
and lip. In the last century it was seen in delicate, ill-fed, ill-tended
children between the ages of two and five. The disease was the result of
poor hygiene. It was often fatal. The disease could, in a few days, lead
to gangrene of the lips, cheeks, tonsils, palate, tongue, and even half the
face; teeth would fall from their sockets. Synonyms: canker, water canker,
noma, gangrenous stomatitis, gangrenous ulceration of the mouth. |
| Catalepsy |
seizures/trances Catarrhal:
Inflammation of a mucous membrane, especially of the air passages of the
head and throat, with a free discharge. Bronchial catarrh was bronchitis;
suffocative catarrh was croup; urethral catarrh was gleet; vaginal catarrh
was leukorrhea; epidemic catarrh was the same as influenza. Synonyms: cold,
coryza. |
| Cerebritis |
Inflammation of the cerebrum or lead poisoning |
| Cephalalgia | Headache |
| Caduceus |
Subject to falling sickness or epilepsy |
| Camp Fever |
Typhus |
| Canine Madness |
Rabies, hydrophobia |
| Chilblain | swelling of the extremities caused by exposure to cold |
| Child Bed Fever |
Infection following childbirth |
| Chin Cough/Whooping Cough | Characterized by breathing difficulties and in its worst
stage, convulsions |
| Chorea | disease characterized by convulsions and contortions Any
of several diseases of the nervous system, characterized by jerky movements
that appear to be well coordinated but are performed involuntarily, chiefly
of the face and extremities. Synonym: Saint Vitus' dance. |
| Cholera |
Acute severe contagious diarrhea with intestinal
lining sloughing. An acute, infectious disease characterized by profuse diarrhea,
vomiting, and cramps. Cholera is spread by feces contaminated water and
food. Major epidemics struck the United States in the years 1832, 1849, and
1866. |
| Cholera Morbus |
Characterized by nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps,
elevated temp., etc. |
| Cholera infantum |
A common, noncontiguous diarrhea
of young children, occurring in summer or autumn. It was common among the
poor and in hand fed babies. Death frequently occurred in three to five
days. Synonyms: summer complaint, weaning brash, water gripes, choleric
fever of children, cholera morbus. |
| Cholecystitus |
Inflammation of the gall bladder |
| Cholelithiasis |
Gall Stones |
| Coryza |
A cold |
| Chlorosis |
Iron Deficiency anemia |
| Chronic | Continuing for a long period of time |
| Clap |
Gonorrhea |
| Colic | Acute abdominal pains, caused by abnormal condition of the
bowel. Paroxysmal pain in the abdomen or bowels. Infantile colic is
benign paroxysmal abdominal pain during the first three months of life.
Colic rarely caused death. Renal colic can occur from disease in the kidney,
gallstone colic from a stone in the bile duct. |
| Cold Plague | Ague which is characterized by chills. |
| Congestion | An excessive or abnormal accumulation of blood or other fluid
in a body part or blood vessel. In congestive fever the internal organs become
gorged with blood. |
| Congestive Fever (Chills) | Malaria |
| Conjunctivitis | Inflammation of the eye or eyelid |
| Consecutiva | Unrelated illness following another |
| Constiveness | Constipation |
| Consumption | A wasting away of the body; formerly applied especially
to pulmonary tuberculosis. Synonyms: marasmus (in the mid nineteenth century),
phthisis. |
| Continua | Without interruption |
| Contusion | A bruise or injury where the skin is not broken |
| Cramp Colic | appendicitis |
| Cretinism | congenital hypothyroidism |
| Crop Sickness | overextended stomach |
| Croup | Laryngitis, diphtheria, or strep throat. Any obstructive
condition of the larynx (voice box) or trachea (windpipe), characterized
by a hoarse, barking cough and difficult breathing occurring chiefly in infants
and children. In the early nineteenth century it was called cynanche trachealis.
The crouping noise was similar to the sound emitted by a chicken affected
with the pip, which in some parts of Scotland was called roup; hence, probably,
the term croup. Synonyms: roup, hives, choak, stuffing, rising of the lights. |
| Day Fever |
a fever of a day's duration or coming on in the
daytime; |
| Debilitates |
Weakness or feebleness |
| Debility | Weakness or feebleness. Abnormal bodily weakness or
feebleness; decay of strength. This was a term descriptive of a patient's
condition and of no help in making a diagnosis. Synonym: Asthenia. |
| Decrepitude |
Feebleness due to old age |
| Delirium Tremens | hallucinations & seizures due to alcohol withdrawal |
| Dengue |
Infectious fever endemic to East Africa |
| Dentition |
Cutting of teeth |
| Deplumation |
Tumor of the eyelids which causes hairloss |
| Diary Fever |
A fever that lasts only one day |
| Diphtheria | contagious disease of the throat. An acute infectious disease acquired by contact with an infected person or a carrier of the disease. It was usually confined to the upper respiratory tract (throat) and characterized by the formation of a tough membrane (false membrane) attached firmly to the underlying tissue that would bleed if forcibly removed. In the nineteenth century the disease was occasionally confused with scarlet fever and croup. |
| Dock Fever |
yellow fever |
| Dresser | surgeon's assistant in a hospital |
| Dropsy of the Brain | encephalitis |
| Dropsy | edema (or the presence of abnormally large amounts of
fluid) in the tissues and cavities of the body. i.e.: congestive heart failure |
| Dropsy of the Brain |
encephalitis |
| Dry Belly Ache |
Lead Poisoning |
| Dysentery | Inflammation of intestinal membrane. A term given
to a number of disorders marked by inflammation of the intestines (especially
of the colon). There are two specific varieties: (1) amebic dysentery (2)
bacillary dysentery. Synonyms: flux, bloody flux, contagious pyrexia (fever),
frequent griping stools. |
| Dyspepsia | bad acid indigestion |
| Effluvia (Vapors) |
Exhalations. In the mid nineteenth century, they
were called "vapors" and distinguished into the contagious effluvia, such
as rubeolar (measles); marsh effluvia, such as miasmata. |
| Emphysema, pulmonary |
A chronic, irreversible disease of the lungs. |
| Encephalitis | swelling of the brain, aka sleeping sickness |
| Enteritis | inflammation of the bowels |
| Epilepsy |
A disorder of the nervous system, characterized
either by mild, episodic loss of attention or sleepiness (petittnal) or
by severe convulsions with loss of consciousness (grand mal). Synonyms:
falling sickness, fits. |
| Erysipelas (Saint Anthony's Fire) |
A skin disease caused by strep infection which devastates
the blood Erysipelas is a contagious skin disease due to Streptococci
with vesicular and bulbous lesions. Synonyms: Rose, Saint Anthony's Fire
(from its burning heat or, perhaps, because Saint Anthony was supposed to
cure it miraculously). |
| Febris | fever |
| Falling Sickness |
Epilepsy |
| Fits |
Sudden attack or seizure |
| Flux | discharge of fluid from the body ( i.e.: hemorrhage or diarrhea) |
| French Pox |
Syphilis |
| Flux of Humor |
Circulation |
| Galloping Consumption | Pulmonary Tuberculosis |
| Gathering |
a collection of pus |
| Glandular Fever | mononucleosis |
| Goiter |
a non cancerous enlargement of the thyroid gland,
visible as a swelling at the front of the neck, that is often associated
with an iodine deficiency |
| Gout |
a disturbance of uric acid metabolism occurring
predominantly in males, characterized by painful inflammation of the
joints, especially of the feet and hands |
| Great Pox |
syphilis |
| Green Sickness | Anemia |
| Graves Disease |
disorder of the thyroid gland |
| Grocer's Itch |
a cotaneous disease caused by mites in sugar
and flour |
| Gripe/La Grippe | an old term for Influenza |
| Heat Sickness |
a condition marked especially by cessation of
sweating and extremely high body temperature, caused by a loss of salt
from the body |
| Heat Stroke |
Body temperature elevates because of surrounding
environment temperature and body does not perspire to reduce temperature.
Coma and death result if not reversed |
| Hives |
A skin eruption of smooth, slightly elevated areas
on the skin which is redder or paler than the surrounding skin. Often attended
by severe itching. Also called cynanche trachealis. In the mid nineteenth
century, hives was a commonly given cause of death of children three years
and under. Because true hives does not kill, croup was probably the actual
cause of death in those children. |
| Horrors |
Delirium tremens. |
| Hemophthis | Spitting of blood |
| Hemorrhia | Heavy Bleeding |
| Herpes | An inflammatory virus disease of the skin or mucous membranes |
| Incipt Hydrothorax | An abnormal amount of watery fluid in the pleural cavity |
| Infantile Paralysis | polio |
| Infection |
In the early part of the last century, infections
were thought to be the propagation of disease by effluvia (see above) from
patients crowded together. "Miasms" were believed to be substances which
could not be seen in any form, emanations not apparent to the senses. Such
Miasms were understood to act by infection. |
| Inflammation |
Redness, swelling, pain, tenderness, heat, and disturbed
function of an area of the body. In the last century, cause of death often
was listed as inflammation of a body organ, such as, brain or lung, but
this was purely a descriptive term and is not helpful in identifying the
actual underlying disease. |
| Intermittent (intermittent) | Stopping and Starting |
| Impetigo |
Contagious skin disease characterized by pustules |
| Inanition |
Physical condition resulting from a lack of food
|
| Intestinal colic |
abdominal pain due to improper diet |
| Jail Fever | typhus |
| Jaundice | yellowing of the skin due to liver dysfunction (hyperbilirubinemia) |
| King's Evil (Scrofula) |
Tuberculosis of neck and lymph glands. A
popular name for Scrofula which was a primary tuberculosis of the lymphatic
glands, especially those in the neck. A disease of children and young adults
The name originated in the time of Edward the Confessor, with the belief that
the disease could be cured by the touch of the King of England. |
| Kruchhusten |
whooping cough |
| Lock Jaw | Tetanus, a disease in which the jaws become firmly locked
together. Synonyms: trismus, tetanus. |
| Lumbago | Back pain |
| Lying In |
time of delivery of infant |
| Lues disease (venera) |
venereal disease syphilis |
| Lung Fever | pneumonia |
| Lung Sickness | tuberculosis |
| Mania | insanity |
| Miasma | poisonous vapors thought to infect the air |
| Marasmus |
Progressive wasting away of a body like malnutrition |
| Meningitis |
Inflammation of the meninges (brain and spinal
cord) characterized by high fever, severe headache, and stiff neck or back
muscles. Synonym: brain fever. |
| Metritis |
Inflammation of uterus or purulent vaginal discharge.
|
| Milk Leg |
Post Partum thrombophlebitis (occurred most often
in Native American women) Swelling of the legs after birth |
| Milk Sickness (Fever) | disease from the milk from cattle which had eaten poisonous weeds |
| Morbi Cutis | A skin disease |
| Mormal | Gangrene |
| Mortis | death |
| Morphew |
Scurvy blisters of the body |
| Myelitis | inflammation of the spine |
| Myocarditits | inflammation of the heart muscles |
| Necrosis | mortification of bones or tissue, usually skin |
| Nephritis | inflammation of the kidneys |
| Nervous Prostration |
Extreme exhaustion from inability to control physical
and mental activities |
| Neurasthenia |
neurotic condition characterized by worry, disturbances
of digestion and circulation and attributed to emotional conflict and feelings
of inferiority |
| Neuralgia |
Sharp and paroxysmal pain along the course of a
sensory nerve. Discomfort such as headache was Neuralgia in head. |
| Nostalgia |
home sickness |
| Pemphigus |
Skin disease of watery blisters. |
| Ophthalmic |
Relating to the Eye(s) |
| Otalgia | Earache |
| Palsy | paralysis or loss of muscle control |
| Paronychia | A painful, pus producing inflammation at the end of a toe or finger |
| Parotitis | Mumps |
| Paroxysm | convulsion |
| Phlegmon | Inflammation, especially of the connective tissues, leading to ulceration or abscess |
| Phthisis Pulmonalis | A wasting away of the body or any part as in tuberculosis |
| Pleurisy | . Inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the chest
cavity. Symptoms are chills, fever, dry cough, and pain in the affected side
(a stitch). |
| Pleuritis | Pleurisy |
| Podagra | gout |
| Pott's Disease | tuberculosis of the spinal vertebrae |
| Pox | Syphilis |
| Pulmonalis | Relating to the heart |
| Putrid Fever | Typhus Fever, Ship Fever, Diphtheria, transmitted by the bite of fleas and lice. |
| Qyotidiana | A fever occurring or returning daily |
| Quinsy |
An acute inflammation of the tonsils, often leading
to an abscess. Synonyms: suppurative tonsillitis, cynanche tonsillaris,
paristhmitis, sore throat. |
| Rheumatism |
Any disorder associated with paint in joints. |
| Rose Cold |
Hay fever or nasal symptoms of an allergy. |
| Rickets | disease of the skeletal system |
| Rubella |
German Measles |
| Scarlet Fever | disease characterized by a red rash and sore |
| Scorbutic |
Scurvy |
| Screws | Rheumatism |
| Scrofula | Primary tuberculosis of the lymphatic glands, especially
those in the neck. A disease of children and young adults. Synonym: King's
Evil. The name originated in the time of Edward the Confessor, with
the belief that the disease could be cured by the touch of the King of England. |
| Scurvy |
Lack of vitamin C. Symptoms of weakness, spongy
gums and hemorrhages under skin. |
| Septic |
Infected, a condition of local or generalized invasion
of the body by disease-causing germs. |
| Shingles |
Viral disease with skin blisters |
| Ship's Fever | see Typhus |
| Sloes |
Milk sickness. |
| Softening of the Brain | apoplexy / cerebral hemorrhage/stroke. |
| Spotted Fever | typhus, cerebrospinal meningitis fever |
| St. Vitas Dance | Nervous twitches, chorea Ceaseless occurrence of rapid
complex jerking movements performed involuntary. |
| Sub-Laxatio | An incomplete dislocation |
| St. Anthony's fire |
Also erysipelas, but named so because of affected
skin areas are bright red in appearance. A skin disease caused by strep
infection which devastates the blood Erysipelas is a contagious skin
disease due to Streptococci with vesicular and bulbous lesions. Synonyms:
Rose, Saint Anthony's Fire (from its burning heat or, perhaps, because Saint
Anthony was supposed to cure it miraculously). |
| Teething |
The entire process which results in the eruption
of the teeth. Nineteenth century medical reports stated that infants were
more prone to disease at the time of teething. Symptoms were restlessness,
fretfulness, convulsions, diarrhea, and painful and swollen gums. The latter
could be relieved by lancing over the protruding tooth. Often teething was
reported as a cause of death in infants. Perhaps they became susceptible to
infections, especially if lancing was performed without antisepsis. Another
explanation of teething as a cause of death is that infants were often weaned
at the time of teething; perhaps they then died from drinking contaminated
milk, leading to an infection, or from malnutrition if watered-down milk was
given. |
| Tetanus |
An infectious, often fatal disease caused by a specific
bacterium that enters the body through wounds. Synonyms: trismus, lockjaw. |
| Tick Fever |
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever |
| Toxaemia of Pregnancy |
Eclampsia (Eclampsia: Symptoms of epilepsy,
convulsions during labor.) |
| Thrush |
A disease characterized by whitish spots and ulcers
on the membranes of the mouth, tongue, and fauces caused by a parasitic
fungus. Synonyms: Aphthae, sore mouth Aphthous stomatitis. |
| Trench Mouth |
Painful ulcers found along the gum line caused
by poor nutrition and poor hygiene |
| Typhus |
An acute, infectious disease transmitted by lice
and fleas. The epidemic or classic form is louse borne; the endemic or murine
is flea borne. Synonyms: typhus fever, malignant fever (in the 1850s), jail
fever, hospital fever, ship fever, putrid fever, brain fever, bilious fever,
spotted fever, Petechial fever, camp fever |
| Typhoid Fever |
An infectious, often fatal disease, usually occurring
in the summer months, characterized by intestinal inflammation and ulceration.
The name came from the disease's similarity to typhus (see below). Synonym:
Enteric fever |
| Vapours (aka Effluvia) |
Exhalations. In the mid-nineteenth century,
they were called "the vapours" and distinguished into the contagious effluvia,
such as rubeolar (measles); marsh effluvia, such as miasmata. |
| Variola | Smallpox |
| Varix | Varicose veins |
| Venesection | Bleeding |
| Viper's Dance | St. Vitus' Dance, chorea |
| Vulnus Incisum | Relating to a wound caused by a cut |
| Vulnus Punctum | Relating to a wound caused by a puncture |
| Vulnus Sclopeticum | Relating to a wound caused by a gunshot wound |
| Vulnus | Relating to a wound |
| Whitlow | See Paronychia |
| Worm Fit |
Convulsions associated with teething, worms, elevated
temp or diarrhoea |
| Winter Fever | pneumonia |
| Yellow Jacket (Yellow Jack and General Yellow Jack) | Yellow Fever: An acute, often fatal, infectious disease of warm climates, caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes. |
Page Compiled September 28, 2006