scrofula

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   dated: tuberculosis of the lymph nodes, especially those of the neck; cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis

   Nineteenth-century physicians often described swollen cervical glands as scrofula.

From Latin scrofulae ("swollen neck glands"), a diminutive of scrofa ("breeding sow"), traditionally linked to a belief that pigs suffered similar swellings.

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