scrofula

English

Alternative forms

scrophula (obsolete spelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin scrōfulae, a diminutive form of scrōfa (“breeding sow”), because swine were supposed to be subject to the complaint; or by fanciful comparison of the glandular swellings to little pigs.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈskɹɒfjʊlə/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈskɹɔfjələ/
Hyphenation: scro‧fu‧la

Noun

scrofula (countable and uncountable, plural scrofulas or scrofulae or scrofulæ)

(pathology) A form of tuberculosis, most common in women 30-40 years of age, tending to cause enlarged and degenerated lymph nodes, especially in the neck, and often chronic, intractable skin inflammation as well.
- 1970: R.H.C. Davis A History of Medieval Europe Longman: SBN 582482089. P298. "(In 1100) It (The Church) relied on the king (of France) for protection and in return gave him authority. It even ..gave support for the claim that by his royal touch, he could miraculously cure the scrofula. (A similar claim was made for the kings of England, and was exercised till the reign of Queen Anne; one of the last people to be cured in that way being Dr. Johnson.)

Synonyms

adenopathy
king's evil
struma

Derived terms

scrofulous
scrofulide

Translations

form of tuberculosis

Bulgarian: живеница f (živenica)
Burmese: ကျပ် (my) (kyap)
Dutch: scrofulose (nl) f
French: écrouelles (fr) f pl, scrofule (fr) f
Galician: escrófula (gl) f
German: Skrofeln (de) f pl, Skrofulose f
Icelandic: eitlakröm f
Irish: easpa bhrád f, gad brád m
Italian: scrofola (it) f
Japanese: 瘰癧 (ja) (るいれき, ruireki)
Latin: scrofula f
Macedonian: скрофуло́за f (skrofulóza)
Maori: hore
Mongolian: булаг өвчин (bulag övčin)
Portuguese: escrófula (pt) f
Russian: золоту́ха (ru) f (zolotúxa)
Spanish: escrófula f
Swahili: mlezi (sw)

References

1902, Websters International Dictionary.

Italian

Noun

scrofula f (plural scrofule)

Alternative form of scrofola