Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Erysipelas
/ˌɛrɪˈsɪpɪləs/noun
A sharply bordered streptococcal infection of the upper skin, producing a raised, hot, scarlet patch.
The Greek roots
ἐρυθρός
erythrós
red
πέλλα
pélla
skin, hide
Literally: “red skin”
The story of the word
The second half of the compound is disputed: most link it to πέλλα, skin, though some read it as related to πέλλος, dark, which fits the colour less well. English called it St Anthony's fire through the Middle Ages, a name shared with ergot poisoning because both burned. The border of the rash is the diagnostic feature, raised enough that a doctor can feel where it stops.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
Same family
erythemaerythrocyteerythromycin
In a sentence
The erysipelas on her shin had a rim you could trace with a fingertip.