erysipelas

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a bacterial skin infection causing a sharply defined, painful red rash, fever, and swelling

   The doctor treated the erysipelas promptly with antibiotics.

From Middle English erisipila, through Latin erysipelas from Greek erysipelas, the name of a red skin disease. The Greek formation is probably related to erythros, 'red,' reflecting the infection's conspicuous rash.

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