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.

Simplified etymology

Scrofula, recorded from late Middle English, comes from Latin scrofa, “a sow.” The disease received this name because breeding sows were once thought especially susceptible to it.

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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