rheum

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a thin watery discharge of mucus or serum, especially from the eyes or nose

   The cold left rheum gathering at the corners of his eyes.

2. 2
   noun

   historically, an illness such as catarrh or rheumatism thought to be caused by bodily fluids

   The physician attributed the cough to a rheum descending from the head.

From Middle English reume and Anglo-Norman reume, from Late Latin rheuma and Ancient Greek rheuma, 'stream or bodily humor.' It is etymologically related to stream.

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