Civil War and 19th Century Medical Terminology
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Abcpsia | blindness |
| Abscessus | A swollen, inflamed area of the body where pus gathers |
| Acuta | Severe |
| Aegrotantem | illness, sickness |
| Ague | recurring fever and chills of malaria |
| Ambustio | A burn or scald |
| Anasaica | Generalized edema or generalized dropsy |
| Anchylosis | A stiffening of the joints |
| Aphonia | A lost of voice due to organic or psychological causes |
| Apoplexy | stroke |
| Ascites | Accumulation of serous fluid in the abdominal cavity |
| Bad Blood | syphilis |
| Bilious fever | fever caused by liver disorder |
| Black Death | Bubonic plague |
| Bloody Flux | dysentery |
| Bright’s Disease | kidney disease |
| 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 |
| Cephalalgia | Headache |
| Chilblain | swelling of the extremities caused by exposure to cold |
| Chin Cough | Whooping Cough |
| Chorea | disease characterized by convulsions and contortions |
| Chronic | Continuing for a long period of time |
| Colica | Acute abdominal pains, caused by abnormal condition of the bowel |
| Communis | ?? |
| Congestiva | Excessive accumulation of blood in parts of the body |
| Congestive Fever | Malaria |
| Conjunctivitis | Inflamation of the eye or eyelid |
| Consecutiva | Unrelated illness following another |
| Constipatio | Constipation |
| Consumption | Tuberculosis |
| Continua | Without interruption |
| Contusio | 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 |
| Debilitas | Weakness or feebleness |
| Debility | Weakness or feebleness |
| Delirium Tremens | hallucinations & seizures due to alcohol withdrawal |
| Diphtheria | contagious disease of the throat |
| Dresser | surgeon’s assistant in a hospital |
| Dropsy of the Brain | encephalitis |
| Dropsy | edema, congestive heart failure |
| Dysentery | Inflammation of intestinal membrane |
| Dyspepsia | Acid indigestion |
| Encephalitis | swelling of the brain, aka sleeping sickness |
| Enteritis | inflammation of the bowels |
| Erysipelas | An acute infectious disease of the mucous membranes characterized by the inflamation of the skin, accompanied by a fever. |
| Febris | fever |
| Flux | discharge of fluid from the body |
| Galloping Consumption | Pulmonary Tuberculosis |
| Glandular Fever | mononucleosis |
| Green Sickness | Anemia |
| Gripe | Influenza |
| 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 |
| Intermitten (intermittent) | Stopping and Starting |
| Jail Fever | typhus |
| Jaundice | yellowing of the skin due to liver dysfunction (hyperbilirubinemia) |
| Lock Jaw | tetanus |
| Lumbago | A Back Ache |
| Lung Fever | pneumonia |
| Lung Sickness | tuberculosis |
| Mania | insanity |
| Miasma | poisonous vapors thought to infect the air |
| Milk Sickness | disease from the milk from cattle which had eaten poisonous weeds |
| Morbi Cutis | A skin disease |
| Morsal | Gangrene |
| Mortis | death |
| Myelitis | inflammation of the spine |
| Myocarditits | inflammation of the heart muscles |
| Necrosis | mortification of bones or tissue, usually skin |
| Nephritis | inflammation of the kidneys |
| Obit | died |
| Ophthalmia | Relating to the Eye(s) |
| Otalgia | Earache |
| Palsy | paralysis or loss of muscle control |
| Paronychia | A painful, pus-producing inflamation at the end of a toe or finger |
| Parotitis | Mumps |
| Paroxysm | convulsion |
| Phlegmon | Inflamation, 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 lung |
| Pleuritis | Pleurisy |
| Podagra | gout |
| Pott’s Disease | tuberculosis of the spinal vertebrae |
| Pox | Syphilis |
| Pulmonalis | Relating to the heart |
| Putrid Fever | diptheria or typhus |
| Qyotidiana | A fever occurring or returning daily |
| Remitten (Remittent) | A fever that drops, but does not altogether disappear |
| Rickets | disease of the skeletal system |
| Rubeola | Measles |
| Scarlet Fever | disease characterized by a red rash and sore |
| Scorbutus | Scurvy |
| Screws | Rheumatism |
| Scrofula | tuberculosis of the neck lymph nodes or lymphatic glands |
| Ship’s Fever | Typhus |
| Softening of the Brain | apoplexy |
| Spotted Fever | typhus, cerebrospinal meningitis fever |
| St. Vitus Dance | Nervous twitches, chorea |
| Sub-Laxatio | An incomplete dislocation |
| 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 |
| Winter Fever | pneumonia |
| Yellow Jacket (Yellow Jack and General Yellow Jack) | Yellow Fever |
Document created November 3, 1997