Terminology, Meanings and Descriptions of Genealogical Illnesses

Select the first letter of the word from the list above to jump to appropriate section of the glossary.

- A -

• Ablepsy - Blindness
• Ague - Malarial fever
• American plague - Yellow fever
• Anasarca - Generalized massive edema
• Aphonia - Laryngitis
• Aphtha - Infant disease "thrush"
• Apoplexy - Paralysis due to stroke
• Asphicsia - Cyanotic and lack of oxygen
• Asphycsia - Cyanotic and lack of oxygen
• Atrophy - Wasting away or diminishing in size

- B -

• Bad blood - Syphilis
• Bilious fever - Typhoid, malaria, hepatitis or elevated temperature and bile emesis
• Biliousness - Jaundice associated with liver disease
• Black plague - Bubonic plague
• Black fever - Acute infection with high temperature and dark red skin lesions and high mortality rate
• Black pox - Black small pox
• Black vomit - Vomiting old black blood due to ulcers or yellow fever
• Blackwater fever - Dark urine associated with high temperature
• Bladder in throat - Diphtheria (seen on death certificates)
• Blood poisoning - Bacterial infection; septicemia
• Bloody flux - Bloody stools
• Bloody sweat - Sweating sickness
• Bone shave - Sciatica
• Brain fever - Meningitis
• Breakbone - Dengue fever
• Bright's disease - Chronic disease of kidneys
• Bronze John - Yellow fever
• Bule - Boil, tumor or swelling

- C -

• Cachexy - Malnutrition
• Cacogastric - Upset stomach
• Cacospysy - Irregular pulse
• Caduceus - Subject to falling sickness or epilepsy
• Camp fever - Typhus; aka camp diarrhea
• Canine madness - Rabies; hydrophobia
• Canker - Ulceration of mouth or lips; or herpes simplex
• Catalepsy - Seizures/trances
• Catarrhal - Nose and throat discharge from cold or allergy
• Cerebritis - Inflammation of cerebrum; or lead poisoning
• Chilblain - Swelling of extremities caused by exposure to cold
• Child bed fever - Infection following birth of a child
• Chin cough - Whooping cough
• Chlorosis - Iron deficiency anemia
• Cholera - Acute, severe, contagious diarrhea with intestinal lining sloughing
• Cholera morbus - Characterized by nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, elevated temperature, etc.; could also be appendicitis
• Cholecystitus - Inflammation of the gall bladder
• Cholelithiasis - Gall stones
• Chorea - Disease characterized by convulsions, contortions and dancing
• Cold plague - Ague which is characterized by chills
• Colic - Abdominal pain and cramping
• Congestive chills - Malaria
• Consumption - Tuberculosis
• Congestion - Any collection of fluid in an organ, like the lungs
• Congestive chills - Malaria with diarrhea
• Congestive fever - Malaria
• Corruption - Infection
• Coryza - A cold
• Costiveness - Constipation
• Cramp colic - Appendicitis
• Crop sickness - Overextended stomach
• Croup - Laryngitis, diphtheria or strep throat
• Cyanosis - Dark skin color from lack of oxygen in blood
• Cynanche - Diseases of throat
• Cystitis - Inflammation of the bladder

- D -

• Day fever - Fever lasting one day; sweating sickness
• Debility - Lack of movement or staying in bed
• Decrepitude - Feebleness due to old age
• Delirium tremens - Hallucinations due to alcoholism
• Dengue - Infectious fever endemic to East Africa
• Dentition - Cutting of teeth
• Deplumation - Tumor of the eyelids which causes hair loss
• Diary fever - A fever that lasts more than one day
• Diptheria - Contagious disease of the throat
• Distemper - Usually animal disease with malaise, discharge from nose and throat and anorexia
• Dock fever - Yellow fever
• Dropsy - Edema (swelling), often caused by kidney or heart disease
• Dropsy of the brain - Encephalitis
• Dry bellyache - Lead poisoning
• Dyscrasy - An abnormal body condition
• Dysentery - Inflammation of the colon with frequent passage of mucous and blood
• Dysorexy - Reduced appetite
• Dyspepsia - Indigestion and heartburn; heart attack symptoms

- E -

• Eclampsy - Symptoms fo epilepsy; convulsions during labor
• Ecstasy - A form of catalepsy characterized by loss of reason
• Edema - Nephrosis; swelling of tissues
• Edema of lungs - Congestive heart failure; a form of dropsy
• Eel thing - Erysipelas
• Elephantiasis - A form of leprosy
• Encephalitis - Swelling of the brain; aka sleeping sickness
• Enteric fever - Typhoid fever
• Enteritis - Inflammation of the bowels
• Enterocolitis - Inflammation of the intestines
• Epitaxis - Nose bleed
• Erysipelas - Contagious skin disease due to Streptococci with vesiculas and bulbous lesions
• Extravasted blood - Rupture of a blood vessel

- F -

• Falling sickness - Epilepsy
• Fatty liver - Cirrhosis of liver
• Fits - Sudden attack or seizure of muscle activity
• Flux - An excessive flow or discharge of fluid like hemorrhage or diarrhea
• Flux of humour - Circulation

- G -

• Gathering - A collection of pus
• Glandular fever - Mononucleosis
• Great pox - Syphilis
• Green fever - Anemia
• Grippe/grip - Influenza-like symptoms
• Grocer's itch - Skin disease cause by mites in sugar or flour

- H -

• Heart sickness - Condition caused by loss of salt from body
• Heat stroke - Body temperature elevates because of surrounding environment temperature and body does not perspire to reduce temperature
• Hectical complaint - Recurrent fever
• Hematemesis - Vomiting blood
• Hematuria - Bloody urine
• Hemiplegy - Paralysis of one side of the body
• Hip gout - Osteomylitis
• Horrors - Delirium tremers
• Hydrocephalus - - Enlarged head; water on the brain
• Hydropericardium - Heart dropsy
• Hydrophobia - Rabies
• Hydrothroax - Dropsy in chest
• Hypertrophic - Enlargement of an organ, like the heart

- I -

• Impetigo - Contagious skin disease characterized by pustules
• Inanition - Physical condition resulting from lack of food
• Infantile paralysis - Polio
• Intestinal colic - Abdominal pain due to improper diet

- J -

• Jail fever - Typhus
• Jaundice - Condition cause by blockage of intestines

- K -

• King's evil - Tuberculosis of neck and lymph glands
• Kruchhusten - Whooping cough

- L -

• Lagrippe - Influenza
• Lockjaw - Tetanus or infectious disease affecting the muscles of the neck and jaw; untreated, it is fatal in eight (8) days
• Long sickness - Tuberculosis
• Lues disease - Syphilis
• Lues venera - Venereal disease
• Lumbago - Back pain
• Lung fever - Pneumonia
• Lung sickness - Tuberculosis
• Lying in - Time of delivery of an infant

- M -

• Malignant sore throat - Diphtheria
• Mania - Insanity
• Marasmus - Progressive wasting away of the body, like malnutrition
• Membranous croup - Diphtheria
• Meningitis - Inflations of brain or spinal cord
• Metritis - Inflammation of uterus or purulent vaginal discharge
• Miasma - Poisonous vapors thought to infect the air
• Milk fever - Disease from drinking contaminated milk, like undulant fever or brucellosis
• Milk leg - Post partum thrombophlebitis
• Milk sickness - Disease from milk of cattle which had eaten poisonous weeds
• Mormal - Gangrene
• Morphew - Scurvy blisters on the body
• Mortification - Gangrene of necrotic tissue
• Myelitis - Inflammation of the spine
• Myocarditis - Inflammation of heart muscles

- N -

• Necrosis - Mortification of bones or tissue
• Nephrosis - Kidney degeneration
• Nephritis - Inflammation of kidneys
• Nervous prostration - Extreme exhaustion from inability to control physical and mental activities
• Neuralgia - Described as discomfort, such as "headache" was neuralgia in head
• Nostalgia - Homesickness

- O -

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- P -

• Palsy - Paralysis or uncontrolled movement of controlled muscles
• Paroxysm - Convulsion
• Pemphigus - Skin disease of watery blisters
• Pericarditis - Inflammation of the heart
• Peripneumonia - Inflammation of the lungs
• Peritonitis - Inflammation of the abdominal area
• Petechial fever - Fever characterized by skin spotting
• Phthiriasis - Chronic wasting away or a name for tuberculosis
• Plague - An acute febrile highly infectious disease with a high fatality rate
• Pleurisy - Any pain in the chest area with each breath
• Podagra - Gout
• Poliomyelitis - Polio; Potter's asthma
• Pott's disease - Tuberculosis of the spine
• Puerperal exhaustion - Death due to childbirth
• Puerperal fever - Elevated temperature after giving birth to an infant
• Puking fever - Milk sickness
• Putrid fever - Diphtheria

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- Q -

• Quinsy - Tonsillitis

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- R -

• Remitting fever - Malaria
• Rheumatism - Any disorder associated with pain in joints
• Rickets - Disease of skeletal system
• Rose cold - Hay fever or nasal symptoms of an allergy
• Rotanny fever - (Child's disease) ???
• Rubeola - German measles

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- S -

• Sanguineous crust - Scab
• Scarlatina - Scarlet fever
• Scarlet fever - A disease characterized by a red rash
• Scarlet rash - Roseola
• Sciatica - Rheumatism in the hips
• Scirrhus - Cancerous tumors
• Scotomy - Dizziness, nausea and dimness of sight
• Scrivener's palsy - Writer's cramp
• Screws - Rheumatism
• Scrofula - Tuberculosis of neck lymph glands; progresses slowly with abscesses and pistulas develop; young person's disease
• Scrumpox - Skin disease; impetigo
• Scurvy - Lack of Vitamin C; symptoms of weakness, spongy gums and hemorrhages under the skin
• Septicemia - Blood poisoning
• Shakes - Delirium tremens
• Shaking - Chills; ague
• Ship fever - Typhus
• Siriasis - Inflammation of the brain due to sun exposure
• Sloes - Milk sickness
• Small pox - Contagious disease with fever and blisters
• Softing of brain - Result of stroke or hemmorhage in the brain, with an end result of the tissue softening in that area
• Sore throat - distemper Diphtheria or quinsy
• Spanish influenza - Epidemic influenza
• Spasms - Sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle or group of muscles, like a convulsion
• Spina bifida - Deformity of spine
• Spotted fever - Either typhus or meningitis
• Sprue - Tropical disease characterized by intestinal disorders and sore throat
• St. Anthony's fire - Also erysipelas, but named so because of affected skin areas being bright red in appearance
• St. Vitas dance - Ceaseless occurance of rapid complex jerking movements performed involuntarily
• Stomatitis - Inflammation of the mouth
• Stranger's fever - Yellow fever
• Strangery - Rupture
• Sudor anglicus - Sweating sickness
• Summer complaint - Diarrhea, usually in infants, caused by spoiled milk
• Sunstroke - Uncontrolled elevation of body temperature due to environment heat; lack of sodium in the body is a predisposing cause
• Swamp sickness - - Could be malaria, typhoid or encephalitis
• Sweating sickness - - Infectious and fatal disease common to the UK in the 15th century

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- T -

• Tetanus - Infectious disease characterized by high fever, headache and dizziness
• Thrombosis - Blood clot inside blood vessel
• Thrush - Childhood disease characterized by spots on mouth, lips and throat
• Tick fever - Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Toxemia of pregnancy - Eclampsia
• Trench mouth - Painful ulcers found along gum line; caused by poor nutrition and poor hygiene
• Tussis convulsiva - Whooping cough
• Typhus - Infectious fever characterized by high fever, headache and dizziness

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- U -

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- V -

• Variola - Smallpox
• Venesection - Bleeding
• Viper's dance - St. Vitus dance

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- W -

• Water on brain - Enlarged head
• White swelling - Tuberculosis of the bone
• Winter fever - Pneumonia
• Womb fever - Infection of the uterus
• Worm fit - Convulsions associated with teething, worms, elevated temperature or diarrhea

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- X -

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- Y -

• Yellowjacket - Yellow fever

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- Z -

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