Often in genealogy as you do your research you encounter an archaic medical term used for the cause of death, or perhaps in a journal or family correspondence. This list is intended to aid with interpreting those terms.
|
Disease |
Description |
|
King's evil |
Tuberculosis of neck and lymph glands |
|
Kruchhusten |
Whooping cough |
|
Lagrippe |
Influenza |
|
Lockjaw |
Tetanus or infectious disease affecting the muscles of the neck and jaw. Untreated, it is fatal in 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 infant |
|
Malignant sore throat |
Diphtheria |
|
Mania |
Insanity |
|
Marasmus |
Progressive wasting away of 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 |
|
Necrosis |
Mortification of bones or tissue |
|
Nephrosis |
Kidney degeneration |
|
Nepritis |
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 |
|
Palsy |
Paralysis or uncontrolled movement of controlled muscles. It was listed as "Cause of death". |
|
Paroxysm |
Convulsion |
|
Pemphigus |
Skin disease of watery blisters |
|
Pericarditis |
Inflammation of heart |
|
Peripneumonia |
Inflammation of lungs |
|
Peritonotis |
Inflammation of abdominal area |
|
Petechial Fever |
Fever characterized by skin spotting |
|
Puerperal exhaustion |
Death due to child birth |
|
Phthiriasis |
Lice infestation |
|
Phthisis |
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 |
|
Pott's disease |
Tuberculosis of spine |
|
Puerperal exhaustion |
Death due to childbirth |
|
Puerperal fever |
Elevated temperature after giving birth to an infant |
|
Puking fever |
Milk sickness |
|
Putrid fever |
Diphtheria |
|
Quinsy |
Tonsillitis |
|
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 |
|
Sanguineous crust |
Scab |
|
Scarlatina |
Scarlet fever |
|
Scarlet fever |
A disease characterized by 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 skin. |
|
Septicemia |
Blood poisoning |
|
Shakes |
Delirium tremens |
|
Shaking |
Chills, ague |
|
Shingles |
Viral disease with skin blisters |
|
Ship fever |
Typhus |
|
Siriasis |
Inflammation of the brain due to sun exposure |
|
Sloes |
Milk sickness |
|
Small pox |
Contagious disease with fever and blisters |
|
Softening of brain |
Result of stroke or hemorrhage 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 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 are bright red in appearance. |
|
St. Vitas dance |
Ceaseless occurrence of rapid complex jerking movements performed involuntary |
|
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 UK in 15th century |
|
Tetanus |
Infectious fever 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 high fever, headache, and dizziness. |
|
Variola |
Smallpox |
|
Venesection |
Bleeding |
|
Viper's dance |
St. Vitus Dance |
|
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. |
|
Yellowjacket |
Yellow fever |
|
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