DISEASES AND
MEDICAL TERMS
for GENEALOGISTS
MEDICAL TERMS AND DEFINITIONS for GENEALOGISTS
Glossary
• Abasia. Hysterical inability to walk or stand.
• Ablepsia/Ablepsy/Abopsia. Blindness
• Abortion. Expulsion of a foetus before it is viable, ie. Miscarriage. When this results from the actions of the doctor it is
termed induced abortion or termination of pregnancy
• Abortus Fever. Brucellosis
• Abscess. A localised collection of pus buried in tissues, organs, or confined spaces of the body, often accompanied by
swelling and inflammation and frequently caused by bacteria. The brain, lung, or kidney (for instance) could be involved.
See boil.
• Accoucheur. A man who acts as a midwife.
• Accoucheuse. A midwife
• Accubation. Childbirth
• Acescency. A tendency to sourness; incipient or slight acidity
• Achor. Eruption on the scalp
• Actinic Rays. Ultra-violet light
• Acute Angina. Sore throat
• Acute Mania. Severe insanity
• Acute. Describes any illness of sudden or recent onset
• Addison’s disease. A disease characterised by severe weakness, low blood pressure, and a bronzed coloration of the
skin, due to decreased secretion of cortisol from the adrenal gland. Dr. Thomas Addison (1793-1860), born near
Newcastle, England, described the disease in 1855. Synonyms: Morbus addisonii, bronzed skin disease.
• Aegrotantem. Illness, sickness
• Aglutition. Inability to swallow
• Agony. iterally means the violent struggle with death
• Ague. Malarial or intermittent fever characterised by paroxysms (stages of chills, fever, and sweating at regularly recurring
times) and followed by an interval or intermission whose length determines the epithets: quotidian, tertian, quartan, and
quintan ague (defined in the text). 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 form of enlargement of the spleen, resulting from the action of malaria on the system.
• Ainhum. Stricture resulting from minor cuts at the base of a digit eventually resulting in amputation
• Albuminuria – an abnormal condition characterised by the presence of albumose in the urine.
• Albumose – a substance formed during the early digestion of protein. It is an intermediate stage between albumen and
peptone.
• Aleppo Boil. See Leishmaniasis
• Alveolus – 1. An air vesicle of the lung. 2. A tooth socket. 3. A gland follicle or acinus.
• Alvine. Pertaining to the bowels
• Alzheimer's Disease. Form of dementia
• American Plague. Yellow fever
• Anasarca. Generalised massive dropsy. See dropsy.
• Ancome. A whitlow, an ulcerous swelling
• Aneurysm – a local dilation in the course of an artery: may occur in any part but most common in the arch of the aorta,
thoracic aorta, femoral artery, popliteal artery and abdominal aorta (last one more rarely).
• Angina Pectoris – characterised by agonising pain directly behind the breastbone, due to temporary lack of blood supply to
the heart muscle. The pain, which radiates down the left arm, is so acute that, the sufferer is unable or afraid to move and
retains that position assumed when the attack commenced. The face is pale and the skin cold and clammy.
• Angina. Means choking – spasmodic attacks of pain accompanied by a sensation of suffocation and impending death.
, • Anile. Of or like an old woman; imbecile
• Anteroseptal – myocardial infarction. Occluded left anterior descending coronary bypass graft.
• Anthracosis. Lung disease caused by inhalation of coal dust. A form of pneumoconiosis
• Aperient. A laxative medicine or food
• Aphonia. Laryngitis
• Aphtha(e). See thrush.
• Aphthous stomatitis. See canker.
• Apnoea – a transitory cessation of breathing.
• Apoplexy. Paralysis due to stroke
• Arachnoid – resembling a spider’s web.
• Arteriosclerosis – thickening and hardening of artery walls.
• Ascites. See dropsy.
• Asphycsia/Asphicsia. Cyanotic and lack of oxygen
• Asthenia. See debility.
• Atavism. Heredity
• Atelectasis – imperfect expansion of lungs of a newborn baby. Collapse of the lungs.
• Atheroma – slow degeneration of arteries when fatty deposits collect on the inner lining.
• Athetosis. Writhing movements
• Atrophy. Wasting away or emaciation. Usually modified e.g. Brain atrophy.
• Bad Blood. Syphilis.
• Barber's Itch. Infection of the hair follicles of the beard area
• Barber's Rash. Infection of the hair follicles of the beard area
• Barrel Fever. Vomiting or illness due to excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks
• Beriberi. Vitamin B1 deficiency
• Bilious fever. A term loosely applied to certain enteric (intestinal) and malarial fevers. See typhus.
• Biliousness. A complex of symptoms comprising nausea, abdominal discomfort, headache, and constipation—formerly
attributed to excessive secretion of bile from the liver.
• Biskra Button. See Leishmaniasis
• Black Death. Bubonic plague
• Black Fever. Acute infection with high temperature and dark red skin lesions and high mortality rate
• Black Jaundice. Wiel's Disease. Disease with fever and jaundice. Caused by a germ found in the urine of rats and hence
common in workers who work in dirty water such as miners and sewer workers. Can be rarely contracted
from birds.
• Black Lung. Disease from breathing coal dust
• Black Plague. Bubonic plague
• Black Pox. Black small pox
• Black Vomit. Vomiting black blood due to ulcers or Yellow fever.
• Blackwater Fever. Severe form of malaria in which the urine contains so much blood it appears black.
• Bladder In Throat. Diphtheria
• Blood Poisoning. Septicaemia
• Bloody Flux. Dysentery
• Bloody Sweat. Sweating sickness
• Boil. An abscess of skin or painful, circumscribed inflammation of the skin or a hair follicle, having a dead, pus-forming
inner core, usually caused by a staphylococcal infection. Synonym: furuncle.
• Bone Shave. Sciatica
• Brain fever. See meningitis, typhus.
• Brassfounders Ague. Illness caused by poisoning from fumes produced during the production of metals
• Break Bone Fever. Dengue fever
• Bright's Disease. Bright's disease is a catch all for kidney diseases
• Brill's Disease. Typhus
• Bromidism. Condition caused by over indulgence of potassium bromide
• Bronchial Asthma. A paroxysmal, often allergic disorder of breathing, characterised by spasm of the bronchial tubes of
the lungs, wheezing, and difficulty in breathing air outward—often accompanied by coughing and a feeling of tightness in
the chest. In the nineteenth century the direct causes were thought to be dust, vegetable irritants, chemical vapours, animal
emanations, climatic influences, and bronchial inflammation—all of which were reasonable guesses. The indirect causes
were thought to be transmissions by the nervous system or by the blood from gout, syphilis, skin disease, renal disease, or
heredity. Only the latter cause was a reasonable assumption.
• Bronchial Catarrh. See Bronchitis
• Bronchiectasis – Dilation of the bronchial tubes.
• Bronchitis – inflammation of the air passages.
• Bronze John. Yellow fever
Medical Terms And Definitions compiled by Ian Beach 2
MEDICAL TERMS
for GENEALOGISTS
MEDICAL TERMS AND DEFINITIONS for GENEALOGISTS
Glossary
• Abasia. Hysterical inability to walk or stand.
• Ablepsia/Ablepsy/Abopsia. Blindness
• Abortion. Expulsion of a foetus before it is viable, ie. Miscarriage. When this results from the actions of the doctor it is
termed induced abortion or termination of pregnancy
• Abortus Fever. Brucellosis
• Abscess. A localised collection of pus buried in tissues, organs, or confined spaces of the body, often accompanied by
swelling and inflammation and frequently caused by bacteria. The brain, lung, or kidney (for instance) could be involved.
See boil.
• Accoucheur. A man who acts as a midwife.
• Accoucheuse. A midwife
• Accubation. Childbirth
• Acescency. A tendency to sourness; incipient or slight acidity
• Achor. Eruption on the scalp
• Actinic Rays. Ultra-violet light
• Acute Angina. Sore throat
• Acute Mania. Severe insanity
• Acute. Describes any illness of sudden or recent onset
• Addison’s disease. A disease characterised by severe weakness, low blood pressure, and a bronzed coloration of the
skin, due to decreased secretion of cortisol from the adrenal gland. Dr. Thomas Addison (1793-1860), born near
Newcastle, England, described the disease in 1855. Synonyms: Morbus addisonii, bronzed skin disease.
• Aegrotantem. Illness, sickness
• Aglutition. Inability to swallow
• Agony. iterally means the violent struggle with death
• Ague. Malarial or intermittent fever characterised by paroxysms (stages of chills, fever, and sweating at regularly recurring
times) and followed by an interval or intermission whose length determines the epithets: quotidian, tertian, quartan, and
quintan ague (defined in the text). 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 form of enlargement of the spleen, resulting from the action of malaria on the system.
• Ainhum. Stricture resulting from minor cuts at the base of a digit eventually resulting in amputation
• Albuminuria – an abnormal condition characterised by the presence of albumose in the urine.
• Albumose – a substance formed during the early digestion of protein. It is an intermediate stage between albumen and
peptone.
• Aleppo Boil. See Leishmaniasis
• Alveolus – 1. An air vesicle of the lung. 2. A tooth socket. 3. A gland follicle or acinus.
• Alvine. Pertaining to the bowels
• Alzheimer's Disease. Form of dementia
• American Plague. Yellow fever
• Anasarca. Generalised massive dropsy. See dropsy.
• Ancome. A whitlow, an ulcerous swelling
• Aneurysm – a local dilation in the course of an artery: may occur in any part but most common in the arch of the aorta,
thoracic aorta, femoral artery, popliteal artery and abdominal aorta (last one more rarely).
• Angina Pectoris – characterised by agonising pain directly behind the breastbone, due to temporary lack of blood supply to
the heart muscle. The pain, which radiates down the left arm, is so acute that, the sufferer is unable or afraid to move and
retains that position assumed when the attack commenced. The face is pale and the skin cold and clammy.
• Angina. Means choking – spasmodic attacks of pain accompanied by a sensation of suffocation and impending death.
, • Anile. Of or like an old woman; imbecile
• Anteroseptal – myocardial infarction. Occluded left anterior descending coronary bypass graft.
• Anthracosis. Lung disease caused by inhalation of coal dust. A form of pneumoconiosis
• Aperient. A laxative medicine or food
• Aphonia. Laryngitis
• Aphtha(e). See thrush.
• Aphthous stomatitis. See canker.
• Apnoea – a transitory cessation of breathing.
• Apoplexy. Paralysis due to stroke
• Arachnoid – resembling a spider’s web.
• Arteriosclerosis – thickening and hardening of artery walls.
• Ascites. See dropsy.
• Asphycsia/Asphicsia. Cyanotic and lack of oxygen
• Asthenia. See debility.
• Atavism. Heredity
• Atelectasis – imperfect expansion of lungs of a newborn baby. Collapse of the lungs.
• Atheroma – slow degeneration of arteries when fatty deposits collect on the inner lining.
• Athetosis. Writhing movements
• Atrophy. Wasting away or emaciation. Usually modified e.g. Brain atrophy.
• Bad Blood. Syphilis.
• Barber's Itch. Infection of the hair follicles of the beard area
• Barber's Rash. Infection of the hair follicles of the beard area
• Barrel Fever. Vomiting or illness due to excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks
• Beriberi. Vitamin B1 deficiency
• Bilious fever. A term loosely applied to certain enteric (intestinal) and malarial fevers. See typhus.
• Biliousness. A complex of symptoms comprising nausea, abdominal discomfort, headache, and constipation—formerly
attributed to excessive secretion of bile from the liver.
• Biskra Button. See Leishmaniasis
• Black Death. Bubonic plague
• Black Fever. Acute infection with high temperature and dark red skin lesions and high mortality rate
• Black Jaundice. Wiel's Disease. Disease with fever and jaundice. Caused by a germ found in the urine of rats and hence
common in workers who work in dirty water such as miners and sewer workers. Can be rarely contracted
from birds.
• Black Lung. Disease from breathing coal dust
• Black Plague. Bubonic plague
• Black Pox. Black small pox
• Black Vomit. Vomiting black blood due to ulcers or Yellow fever.
• Blackwater Fever. Severe form of malaria in which the urine contains so much blood it appears black.
• Bladder In Throat. Diphtheria
• Blood Poisoning. Septicaemia
• Bloody Flux. Dysentery
• Bloody Sweat. Sweating sickness
• Boil. An abscess of skin or painful, circumscribed inflammation of the skin or a hair follicle, having a dead, pus-forming
inner core, usually caused by a staphylococcal infection. Synonym: furuncle.
• Bone Shave. Sciatica
• Brain fever. See meningitis, typhus.
• Brassfounders Ague. Illness caused by poisoning from fumes produced during the production of metals
• Break Bone Fever. Dengue fever
• Bright's Disease. Bright's disease is a catch all for kidney diseases
• Brill's Disease. Typhus
• Bromidism. Condition caused by over indulgence of potassium bromide
• Bronchial Asthma. A paroxysmal, often allergic disorder of breathing, characterised by spasm of the bronchial tubes of
the lungs, wheezing, and difficulty in breathing air outward—often accompanied by coughing and a feeling of tightness in
the chest. In the nineteenth century the direct causes were thought to be dust, vegetable irritants, chemical vapours, animal
emanations, climatic influences, and bronchial inflammation—all of which were reasonable guesses. The indirect causes
were thought to be transmissions by the nervous system or by the blood from gout, syphilis, skin disease, renal disease, or
heredity. Only the latter cause was a reasonable assumption.
• Bronchial Catarrh. See Bronchitis
• Bronchiectasis – Dilation of the bronchial tubes.
• Bronchitis – inflammation of the air passages.
• Bronze John. Yellow fever
Medical Terms And Definitions compiled by Ian Beach 2
