Medical Terminology
When researching geneology, burial records sometimes use medical terms that may be out of common use. Some use medical terms not known in every day speaking. Below is a list of medical words and phrases that may be helpful and interesting.
| Word or Phrase |
Meaning |
| Ablepsy | Blindness |
| Ague | Malarial Fever |
| American plague | Yellow Fever |
| Anasarca | Generalized massive edema |
| Aphonia | Laryngitis |
| Aphtha | The Infant disease “thrush” |
| Apoplexy | Paralysis due to stroke |
| Asphycsia/Asphicsia | Cyanotic and lack of oxygen |
| Atrophy | Wasting away or diminishing in size |
| Bad Blood | Syphilis |
| Bilious fever | Typhoid, Malaria, hepatitis or elevated temperature and bile emesis |
| Biliousness | Jaundice associated with liver disease |
| Black plague or death | Bubonic Plague |
| Black fever | Acute infection with high temperature and dark red skin lesions and high mortality rate |
| Black pox | Black Small Pox |
| Block vomit | Vomiting old Black blood due to ulcers or yellow fever |
| Blackwater fever | Dark urine associated with high temperature |
| Bladder in throat | Diphtheria (Seen on death certificates) |
| Blood poisoning | Bacterial infection; septicemia |
| Bloody flux | Bloody stools |
| Bloody sweat | Sweating sickness |
| Bone shave | Sciatica |
| Brain fever | Meningitis |
| Breakbone | Dengue fever |
| Bright’s disease | Chronic Inflammation disease of kidneys |
| Bronze John | Yellow fever |
| Bule | Boil, Tumor or swelling |
| Cachexy | Malnutrition |
| Cacogastric | Upset stomach |
| Cacospysy | Irregular pulse |
| Caduceus | Subject to falling sickness or epilepsy |
| Camp fever | Typhus; aka Camp diarrhea |
| Canine madness | Rabies, hydrophobia |
| Canker | Ulceration of mouth or lips or herpes simplex |
| Catalepsy | Seizures/trances |
| Catarrhal | Nose and throat discharge from cold or allergy |
| Cerebritis | Inflammation of cerebrum or lead poisoning |
| Chilblain | Swelling of extremities caused by exposure to cold |
| Child bed fever | Infection following birth of a child |
| Chin cough | Whooping Cough |
| Chlorosis | Iron deficiency anemia |
| Cholera | Acute severe contagious diarrhea with intestinal lining sloughing |
| Cholera morbus | Characterized by nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, elevated temperature, etc. Could be appendicitis |
| Cholecystitus | Inflammation of the gall bladder |
| Cholelithiasis | Gall stones |
| Chorea | Disease characterized by Convulsions, contortions and dancing |
| Cold plague | Ague which is characterized by chills |
| Colic | An abdominal pain and cramping |
| Congestion | Any collection of fluid in an organ, like the lungs |
| Congestive chills | Malaria with diarrhea |
| Congestive fever | Malaria |
| Congestive chills | Malaria |
| Consumption | Tuberculosis |
| Corruption | Infection |
| Coryza | A cold |
| Costiveness | Constipation |
| Cramp colic | Appendicitis |
| Crop sickness | Overextended stomach |
| Cyanosis | Dark skin color from lack of oxygen in blood |
| Cynanche | Disease of throat |
| Cystitis | Inflammation of the bladder |
| Day fever | Fever lasting one day; sweating sickness |
| Debility | Lock of movement or staying in bed |
| Decrepitude | Feebleness due to old age |
| Delirium tremens | Hallucinations due to alcoholism |
| Dengue | Infectious fever endemic to East Africa |
| Dentition | Cutting of teeth |
| Deplumation | Tumor of the eyelids which causes hair loss |
| Diary fever | A fever that lasts one day` |
| Diptheria | Contagious disease of the throat |
| Distemper | Usually animal disease with malaise, discharge from nose and throat, anorexia |
| Dock fever | Yellow fever |
| Dropsy | Edema (Swelling), often caused by kidney or Heart Disease |
| Dropsy of the Brain | Encephalitis |
| Dry Bellyache | Lead poisoning |
| Dysentery | Inflammation of colon with frequent passage of mucous and blood |
| Dysorexy | Reduced appetite |
| Dyspepsia | Indigestion and heartburn. Heart attack symptoms |
| Dysury | Difficulty in urination |
| Eclampsy | Symptoms of epilepsy, Convulsions during labor |
| Ecstasy | A form of catalepsy characterized by loss of reason |
| Edema | Nephrosis; swelling of tissues |
| Edema of lungs | Congestive Heart Failure, A form of Dropsy |
| Eel thing | Erysipelas |
| Elephantiasis | A form of leprosy |
| Encephalitis | Swelling of Brain; aka sleeping sickness |
| Enteric fever | Typhoid Fever |
| Enterocolitis | Inflammation of the intestines |
| Enteritis | Inflations of the bowels |
| Epitaxis | Nose bleed |
| Erysipelas | Contagious skin disease, due to Streptococci with vesicular and bulbous lesions |
| Extravasted blood | Rupture of a blood vessel |
| Falling sickness | Epilepsy |
| Fatty Liver | Cirrhosis of liver |
| Fits | Sudden attack or seizure of muscle activity |
| Flux | An excessive flow or discharge of fluid like hemorrhage or diarrhea |
| Flux of humour | Circulation |
| French pox | Syphilis |
| Gathering | A collection of pus |
| Glandular fever | Mononucleosis |
| Great pox | Syphilis |
| Green fever/sickness | Anemia |
| Grippe/grip | Influenza like symptoms |
| Grocer’s itch | Skin disease caused by mites in sugar or flour |
| Heart sickness | Condition caused by loss of salt from 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. |
| Hectical complaint | Recurrent fever |
| Hematemesis | Vomiting blood |
| Hematuria | Bloody urine |
| Hemiplegy | Paralysis of one side of body |
| Hip gout | Osteomylitis |
| Horrors | Delirium tremens |
| Hydrocephalus | Enlarged head, water on the Brain |
| Hydropericardium | Heart Dropsy |
| Hydrophobia | Rabies |
| Hydrothroax | Dropsy in chest |
| Hypertrophic | Enlargement of organ, like the heart |
| Impetigo | Contagious skin disease characterized by pustules |
| Inanition | Physical condition resulting from lack of food |
| Infantile paralysis | Polio |
| Intestinal colic | Abdominal pain due to improper diet |
| Jail fever | Typhus |
| Jaundice | Condition caused by blockage of intestines |
| King’s evil | Tuberculosis of neck and lymph glands |
| Kruchhusten | Whooping Cough |
| Lagrippe | Influenza |
| Lockjaw | Tetanus or infectious disease affecting the muscles of the neck and jaw. Untreated, it is fatal in 8 days. |
| Long sickness | Tuberculosis |
| Lues disease | Syphilis |
| Lues venera | Venereal disease |
| Lumbago | Back pain |
| Lung fever | Pneumonia |
| Lung sickness | Tuberculosis |
| Lying in | Time of delivery of Infant |
| Malignant sore throat | Diphtheria |
| Mania | Insanity |
| Marasmus | Progressive wasting away of body, like malnutrition |
| Membranous Croup | Diphtheria |
| Meningitis | Inflations of Brain or spinal cord |
| Metritis | Inflammation of uterus or purulent vaginal discharge |
| Miasma | Poisonous vapors thought to infect the air |
| Milk fever | Disease from drinking contaminated milk, like undulant fever or brucellosis |
| Milk leg | Post partum thrombophlebitis |
| Milk sickness | Disease from milk of cattle which had eaten poisonous weeds |
| Mormal | Gangrene |
| Morphew | Scurvy blisters on the body |
| Mortification | Gangrene of necrotic tissue |
| Myelitis | Inflammation of the spine |
| Myocarditis | Inflammation of heart muscles |
| Necrosis | Mortification of bones or tissue |
| Nephrosis | Kidney degeneration |
| Nepritis | Inflammation of kidneys |
| Nervous prostration | Extreme exhaustion from inability to control physical and mental activities |
| Neuralgia | Described as discomfort, such as “Headache” was neuralgia in head |
| Nostalgia | Homesickness |
| Palsy | Paralysis or uncontrolled movement of controlled muscles. It was listed as “Cause of death” |
| Paroxysm | Convulsion |
| Pemphigus | Skin disease of watery blisters |
| Pericarditis | Inflammation of heart |
| Peripneumonia | Inflammation of lungs |
| Peritonotis | Inflammation of abdominal area |
| Petechial Fever | Fever characterized by skin spotting |
| Puerperal exhaustion | Death due to Child birth |
| Phthiriasis | Lice infestation |
| Phthisis | Chronic wasting away or A name for tuberculosis |
| Plague | An acute febrile highly infectious disease with A high fatality rate |
| Pleurisy | Any pain in the chest area with each breath |
| Podagra | Gout |
| Poliomyelitis | Polio Potter’s Asthma Fibroid pthisis |
| Pott’s disease | Tuberculosis of spine |
| Puerperal exhaustion | Death due to childbirth |
| Puerperal fever | Elevated temperature after giving birth to an Infant |
| Puking fever | Milk sickness |
| Putrid fever | Diphtheria |
| Quinsy | Tonsillitis |
| Remitting fever | Malaria |
| Rheumatism | Any disorder associated with pain in joints |
| Rickets | Disease of skeletal system |
| Rose cold | Hay fever or nasal symptoms of an allergy |
| Rotanny fever | (Child’s disease)??? |
| Rubeola | German Measles |
| Sanguineous crust | Scab |
| Scarlatina | Scarlet Fever |
| Scarlet Fever | A disease characterized by red rash |
| Scarlet rash | Roseola |
| Sciatica | Rheumatism in the hips |
| Scirrhus | Cancerous tumors |
| Scotomy | Dizziness, nausea and dimness of sight |
| Scrivener’s palsy | Writer’s cramp |
| Screws | Rheumatism |
| Scrofula | Tuberculosis of neck lymph glands. Progresses slowly with abscesses and pistulas develop. Young person’s disease |
| Scrumpox | Skin disease, impetigo |
| Scurvy | Lack of vitamin C. Symptoms of weakness, spongy gums and hemorrhages under skin |
| Spotted fever | Either typhus or Meningitis |
| Sprue | Tropical disease characterized by intestinal disorders and sore throat |
| St. Anthony’s fire | Also erysipelas, but named so because of affected skin areas are bright read in appearance |
| St. Vitas dance | Ceaseless occurrence of rapid complex jerking movements performed involuntary |
| Stomatitis | Inflammation of the mouth |
| Stranger’s fever | Yellow fever |
| Strangery | Rupture |
| Sudor anglicus | Sweating sickness |
| Summer complaint | Diarrhea, usually in infants caused by spoiled milk |
| Sunstroke | Uncontrolled elevation of body temperature due to environment heat. Lack of sodium in the body is a predisposing cause |
| Swamp sickness | Could be Malaria, typhoid or encephalitis |
| Sweating sickness | Infectious and fatal disease common to UK in 15th century |
| Tetanus | Infectious fever characterized by high fever, headache and dizziness |
| Thrombosis | Blood clot inside blood vessel |
| Thrush | Childhood disease characterized by spots on mouth, lips and throat |
| Tick fever | Rocky mountain spotted fever |
| Toxemia of pregnancy | Eclampsia |
| Trench mouth | Painful ulcers found along gum line, caused by poor nutrition and poor hygiene |
| Tussis convulsive | Whooping cough |
| Typhus | Infectious fever characterized high fever, headache, and dizziness |
| Variola | Smallpox |
| Venesection | Bleeding |
| Viper’s dance | St. Vitus Dance |
| Water on Brain | Enlarged head |
| White swelling | Tuberculosis of the bone |
| Winter fever | Pneumonia |
| Womb fever | Infection of the uterus |
| Worm fit | Convulsions associated with teething, worms, elevated temperature or diarrhea |
| Yellowjacket | Yellow fever, characterized high fever, headache, and dizziness |
| Variola | Smallpox |
| Venesection | Bleeding |
| Viper’s dance | St. Vitus Dance |