Health and Beauty

1867

Glossary

Abdomen - The lower front part of the body.
Abortion - A premature birth or miscarriage.
Abortives - That which will cause abortion.
Abrasion - Bruising the skin.
Abscess - A cavity containing pus.
Acetate - A salt prepared with acetic acid.
Acidity - Sourness. Acids neutralize alkalies.
Acrid - Irritating, biting.
Adhesive - Applied to sticking plasters and to parts adhering from inflammations.
Adult - A person of full growth.
Albumen - An element found in both animal and vegetable substances, constituting the chief part of the white of eggs.
Albus - White, hence whites; fluor albus.
Aliment - Any kind of food.
Alimentary canal - The entire passage through the whole intestines from mouth to anus; the passage for the aliment.
Alkaline - Having the properties of alkali.
Alkalies - Neutralize acids.
Alterative - Medicines which will gradually restore healthy action.
Alum - Hydrated double salts manufactured from bauxite (aluminum oxide ore). Helps stop bleeding and shrinks human and animal tissue.
Alvine - Relating to the intestines.
Amenorrhea - Absence of menses
Anemia - Without blood, more properly blood without its proportion of iron, which gives it the bright red color.
Anodyne - A medicine which will allay pain and produce sleepiness.
Antacid - Medicines which neutralize acids
Anti - Being prefixed to any word signifies against.
Antidote - An opposing medicine used chiefly against poison.
Antiemetic - That which will stop vomiting; against emesis.
Antimonial - Medicines containing antimony
Antiphlogistic - Remedy for fever and inflammation
Antiperiodic - That which cures periodic diseases, as Ague, Intermittent Fevers, etc.
Antiscorbutic - Alteratives for Scrofula; blood purifiers
Antiseptic - That which will prevent putrefaction
Antisialagogue - Remedy for Salivation
Antispasmodic - Remedy for spasms, cramps, or convulsions
Antisyphilitic - Remedy for Venereal diseases
Anus - The external opening of the rectum, lower intestine
Aperient - A gentle laxative or purgative
Aqua - Water
Aqua ammonia - A mixture of water and ammonia (a colorless gaseous compound of nitrogen and hydrogen)
Aromatic - Spicy and fragrant drugs; used to prevent griping of drastic purgatives
Arrowroot - A light starch made from the roots of one of several plants that are cultivated in nearly all tropical countries. Most often used is the West Indian arrowroot plant.
Arsenic - A metal, the oxide of which is arsenious acid, commonly called ratsbane.
Astringent - Medicines which constringe, draw up surfaces with which they come in contact; used in flooding, diarrhea, whites, etc.
Balm - Aromatic and fragrant medicine usually an ointment
Balsam - Resinous substances possessing healing properties
Basilicon - An ointment containing wax, rosin, etc.
Belladonna - Nightshade
Bergamot - Perfume made from the lemon peel
Bi-carbonate soda - Also known as baking soda and sodium bi-carbonate. It is a stomach alkalizer and also soothes skin irritations. Bi-carbonate of soda is source of carbon dioxide in baking powder
Bile - A secretion from the liver
Bilious - An undue amount of bile
Bi-tartrate Potash - Cream of tartar
Black Cohosh - Also called black snakeroot because its roots look like a snake. Plants grow throughout U.S. and parts of Canada. It has medicinal properties and yields a drug used to treat St. Vitus Dance. Other snakeroot plants are also useful. Virginia snakeroot or birthwort has tonic properties; Canada snakeroot or wild ginger has stimulating qualities; Senega snakeroot is an emetic; Rauwolf snakeroot yields an alkaloid called reserpine and is sometimes used to treat high blood pressure.
Blanch - To whiten
Blood root - A spring flower which grows in Canada and the U.S. It is sometimes called red puccoon. Leaves are shaped like a kidney, are deeply lobed and grow directly out of the ground. Each stalk has one white or rose-tinted blossom. The entire plant contains a deep orange-red sap. It is used in medicine to shrink tissues. It contains tannin, a substance used in tanning leather. The Indians used the plant's juice as war paint
Blood warm - Between 92 and 96 degrees
Bolus - A large pill
Bowels - Intestines
Bronchia - Branches of the windpipe
Bronchitis - Inflammation of the bronchial tubes which lead into the lungs
Bronchocele - Enlargement of the thyroid gland, enlarged neck
Butyric Acid - An acid obtained from butter
Calcareous - A substance containing chalk or lime
Calcined - Burned so as to be easily reduced to powder
Calcium - The metallic basis of lime (see flour spar)
Calculus - Stone or gravel found in the bladder, gall ducts, kidneys, and ureters. Ducts which lead from the kidneys to the bladder
Calimus - Sweet flag
Callous - A hard bony substance or growth
Camphor spirits - A mixture of 10 parts camphor, 70 parts alcohol and 20 parts water. It is a milk antiseptic and was sometimes used in gargles and mouthwashes (large doses of camphor are poisonous and will cause delirium and convulsions). Camphor comes from the camphor tree. They are tall and have white flowers and green leaves. Most grow in Japan, China, and the Island of Formosa although some are grown in California and the southern states. Camphor is extracted from the branches by steaming them until they give off drops as if they were perspiring. The camphor is drained and pressed to remove the oil and water it contains. It is then in the form of whitish crystals. These are purified to the liquid form.
Capsicum- Cayenne pepper
Carminative - An aromatic medicine
Catarrh - Flow of mucus
Cathartic - An active purgative
Catheter - Tube for emptying the bladder
Caustic - A corroding or destroying substance as nitrate of silver, potash, etc.
Chronic - Of long standing
Citric Acid - Acid made from lemons
Collapse - A recession of the blood from the surface
Coma - Stupor
Congestion - Accumulation of blood in a part, unduly
Constipation - Costiveness
Contagious - A disease which may be given to another by contact
Convalescence - Improvement in health
Counter - To work against as counter irritant, Spanish-flies, draughts to the feet, etc.
Cuticle - The outer or first portion of the skin, which consists of three coats
Datura Stramonium - Stink-weed, jimpson, etc.
Decoction - To prepare by boiling
Defecation - To pass the feces, to go to stool
Dentition - Act or process of cutting teeth
Dentifrice - A preparation to cleanse the teeth
Desiccation - To dry, act of drying
Demulcent - Mucilaginous, as flax-seed and gum arabic
Dermoid - Resembling or relating to the skin
Detergents - Cleansing medicines, as laxatives and purgatives
Diagnosis - To discriminate disease
Diaphoretics - Medicines which aid or produce perspiration
Diaphragm - Midriff
Diarrhea - Looseness of the bowels
Digest - Assimilation or conversion of food into chyme; to prepare medicines with continued, gentle heat
Digitalis - Foxglove, a narcotic
Diluted - Reduced with water, as dilute alcohol, half alcohol and half water
Discutient - A medicine which will scatter or take away tumors
Diuretic - That which increases the amount of urine
Dorsal - Having reference to the back
Douche - A dash or stream upon any part
Drachm - Sixty grains, a tea-spoonful, or a tea-spoon of
Dulcamara - The bitter-sweet or woody nightshade
Dyspepsia - Difficult digestion
Dysphonia - Difficulty in speaking
Dysuria - Difficult or painful urination
Eau - Water
Eau do Cologne - Cologne water
Ebullition - To boil
Eclectic - To choose
Eclectic Physician - One who professes to be liberal in views, independent of party, and who favors progress and reform in medicine.
Effervesce - To foam
Effete - Worn out, waste matter
Efflorescence - Redness of the general surface
Elaterium - Fruit of the wild cucumber, a hydragogue
Electuary - Medicine prepared at the consistence of honey
Elixir - A tincture prepared with more than one article.
Emesis - Act of vomiting
Emetic - Medicines which produce emesis, vomiting
Emmenagogue - A medicine which will aid or bring on the menses
Emollients - Softening and screening medicines, slippery elm bark, flaxseed, gums, etc.
Emulsion - Mucilage from the emollients
Enema - An injection by the rectum
Ennui - Lassitude, dullness of spirit, disgust of condition, etc.
Epi - Above, or over
Epidermis - Outer skin
Epigastrium - Region of the pit of the stomach
Epiglottis - Trap door cartilage at the rot of the tongue preventing food or fluid from entering the windpipe
Epilepsy - Convulsion fits, with loss of sense, foaming at the mouth, and stupor
Epistaxis - Nose bleed
Ergot - Spurred rye
Eructation - Raising wind from the stomach, belching
Eruption - Pimples or blotches on the skin or pustules from small pox
Eschar - A slough on the surface
Escharotic - That which will destroy the flesh
Essential - Having reference to essences made from essential oils and alcohol
Ether - A volatile fluid
Etherial Oil - Volatile oil
Eustachian Tube - A tube leading from the side of the throat to the internal ear
Evacuation - To discharge by stool, to hasten away
Evaporation - To escape in vapor
Eversion - Turning inside out
Exacerbaton - Violent increase in disease
Exanthemata - Eruptive disease, as small-pox, scarlet fever, measles, etc.
Excision - To cut off an extremity
Excoriation - Abrasion, to bruise the skin
Excrement - The feces, that which passes by stool
Excrescence - An unnatural growth
Excretion - That which is thrown off, become useless
Exhalents - Vessels which throw out fluid upon the external or internal surface of the body
Expectorants - That which produces or aids a discharge of mucus from the bronchial tubes or from the lungs
Express - To press out juices
Exterpation - To cut out or remove a part
Extravasation - A collection of blood into a cavity or under the skin
Extremity - Applied to the arms and legs, called the upper and lower extremities
Extract - To take out, as a tooth, to extract a ball or any foreign substance from a wound; an active principle obtained from vegetables
Facial - Belonging to or having reference to the face
Farcy - A disease of the lymphatic vessels in the skin of the flanks of a horse
Farina - Meal or flour from vegetables
Fascicular - A bundle, in bundles
Fauces - The pharynx and back part of the mouth
Febrifuge - Medicines to drive away fever, producing perspiration
Febrile - Having reference to fevers
Feces - That which passes by stool
Felon - A deep abscess of the finger, involving the bone, because under the periosteum the membrane which covers the bone
Femoral - Relating to the thigh
Femus - The thigh bone
Ferment - To oxidize, to effervesce, to work, as emptyings, beer, wine, cider, etc.
Fermentation - To sour, to decompose, both heat and moisture being necessary to keep it up
Ferri Limatura - Iron filings, very valuable in female debility and for males of a weak habit of body
Ferrum - Iron
Fever - That which "Old School Physicians" call a disease, whilst another class (the Thomosonians) say it is an effort of nature to throw off disease; but Eclectics take it as an indication that the circulating medium is not regular and go to work at once to equalize the circulation by the use of diaphoretics, combined with tonics and detergents, which soon sets all to rights. For fever and perspiration cannot long exist together.
Fibre - A very small, thread-like substance of animal or vegetable matter
Fibula - The smallest bone of the leg below the knee
Filter - To strain through paper made for that purpose
Fistula - An ulcer
Flabby - Lose and soft to the touch
Flaccid - Flabby, soft, relaxed
Flatulence - Gas in the stomach
Flatus - To inflate the stomach or bowels with gas
Flooding - Uterine hemorrhage
Fluor - An increased discharge, to flow
Fluoric Acid - A fluid obtained from the fluor spar cut with sulphuric acid
Fluor Albus - White flow, leucorrhea, whites, etc.
Fluor Spar - Fluoride of calcium
Flux - To flow, diarrhea
Formula - Medical prescription
Friction - Rubbing with the dry hand or dry coarse cloth
Fulminating Powder - An explosive preparation used in fireworks
Fumigate - To smoke a room or any article needing to be cleansed
Function - The particular action of an organ as the function of the stomach, liver, lungs, heart, etc.
Fundament - The anus
Fungus - Spongy flesh in wounds, proud flesh, a soft cancer which bleeds upon touching its broken surface
Fusion - To fuse, to melt
Furor - Very violent delirium, not accompanied by fever
Galbanum - A resinous gum from genus of plants
Gall - Bile
Gall Bladder - A bag which receives the gall or bile through ducts from the liver, delivering it to the stomach, in health, through the duct called communis choledochus
Gall Stones - Hard biliary concretions found in the gall bladder, sometimes causing death
Galla - The gall-nut, an excrescence found upon the oak
Gallic Acid - An acid from the nut-gall
Galipot - A glazed jar used for putting up gummy extracts
Galvanic - Having reference to galvanism.
Gamboge - A drastic purgative, unless combined with aromatics
Ganglion - A knot or lump on tendons, ligaments or nerves
Gangrene - Partial death of a part, often ending in entire mortification of the part, and sometimes of the whole body
Gaseous - Having the nature of gas
Gastric - Of, or belonging to the stomach
Gastric Juice - Secretion of the stomach
Gastritis - Inflammation of the stomach
Gastrodynia - Pain in the stomach, sometimes with spasms of the stomach
Gelatine - Isinglass
Gelatinous - Like jelly
Genitals - Belonging to generation, the sexual organs
Gentian - An European root possessing tonic properties
Genu - The knee
Genuflexion - Bending the knee, kneeling
Genus - Family of plants, a group, all of a class or nature
Germ - The vital principle or life-spark
Gestation - To be pregnant
Gland - Secreting organs having ducts emptying into cavities which often become obstructed causing them to enlarge; hence the enlargement of the thyroid gland in the neck causing bronchocele.
Glans - A gland
Gleet - Chronic gonorrhea
Globules - Small round particles having special reference to particles of the red part of the blood
Gloss - To give a lustre; to comment; to write or make explanations
Glossa - The tongue; s smooth tongue
Glossarist - A writer of glosses or comments
Glossary An explanation of words
Glottis - The opening into the wind-pipe at the root of the tongue, larynx, covered by the epiglottis
Gluten - Coagulable lymph, white of an egg, a principle in wheat and other vegetables
Glutton - One who eats excessively
Gonorrhea - An infectious discharge from the genital organs
Gout - Painful inflammation of the joints of the toes or fingers
Granulation - Healing up of an ulcer or wound with healthy matter
Granule - A mall particle of healthy matter, not pus
Gravel - Crystalline particles in the urine
Green sickness - Chlorosis, debility requiring iron
Griping - Grinding pain in the stomach or bowels
Gutta - One drop, drops
Gutta percha - Dried juice of a genus of trees, Isonandra gutta
Guttural - Relating to the throat
Gymnasium - A place for sportive exercise which is very valuable to those who cannot or will not take exercise for the sake of dollars and cents
Habit - Good or bad habit, constitutionally or prejudicially predisposed to do some particular thing; medically as consumptive habit, rheumatic habit, etc.
Hema - Blood, prefixed to other words
Hematemesis - Hemorrhage from the stomach
Hematuria - Hemorrhage from the bladder
Hemoptysis - Hemorrhage from the lungs
Hemorrhoids - Piles, bleeding piles
Henbane - Hyoscyamus
Hereditary -Disease from parents
Hernia - Rupture which permits a part of the bowel to protrude
Herpes - Disease of the skin
Hiera Picra - A Medicine containing aloes
Humeral - Pertaining to the arm
Humerus - The single bone of the upper arm
Humors - The fluids of the body, excluding the blood
Hydragogues - Medicines which produce watery discharges used in dropsy, as elaterium
Hydrargyrum - Metallic mercury, quicksilver, Doctors; name for calomel
Hydrocyanic Acid - Prussic acid, nothing more poisonous
Hydrofluoric Acid - Same as fluoric acid
Hygea - Health
Hygiene - Preserving health by diet and other precautions
Hypo - Signifies low, a low state of health. More annoying to the sufferers then to their friends, who are constantly boring them about it. Called hysterics in women (from hysteria, the womb or uterus), but blues only when it gets hold of men. They come from the same cause, general debility. Takes a strong remedy - iron, as medicine.
Hypoglottis - Under the tongue
Hysteria - The uterus (womb), also disease depending upon, or caused by uterine irregularities
Hysteritis - Inflammation of the uterus
Ichor - An acrid, biting, watery discharge from ulcers, often corroding, eating the surface
Icterus Albus - Chlorosis, whites, etc.
Ignition - To catch on fire, from Ignis, fire
Ileus - Cholic in the small intestine
Illiac - Situated near the flank
Iliac Region - Sides of the abdomen between the ribs and the thighs
Imbecile - One of weak mind, imbecility
Imbibe - To absorb, to drink
Imbricate - To over-lap, as tiles on a house
Immerse - To plunge under water
Immobile - Immovable, as stiff joints
Imperforate - Without a natural opening
Impervious - Closed against water
Impetigo - Tetter
Imponderable - Not having weight, light or electricity
Impoverished - Exhausted vitality
Impotence - Sterility, not being able to produce
Impregnation - The act of producing
Incision - To cut
Incombustible - Incapability of being burned
Incompatibles - Medicines which ought not to be mixed or given together
Incontinence - Not being able to hold the natural excretions
Incorporate - To mix medicines together
Incubation - To hatch eggs, slow development of disease
Indication - That which shows what ought to be done
Indigenous - Peculiarity of a country or of a small section of country, applied to disease, plants, etc.
Indigestion - Dyspepsia
Indolent - Slow in progress, applied to ulcers and tumors, which are slow and with but little or no pain
Induration - Hardening of any part of the system by disease
Infectious - Communicable disease from one to another
Infirmary - Where medicines are distributed gratuitously to the poor; but more recently some physicians have got to calling their offices infirmaries
Inflammation - Attended with heat, redness, swelling, tenderness, and often with throbbing
Inflatus - Distend, to blow up with wind, or to fill up with gas, as the stomach, bowels, etc.
Influenza - A disease affecting the nostrils, throat, etc., of a catarrhal nature
Infusion - Medicines prepared by steeping in water, not to boil
Inquinal - In the groin
Ingredient - One article of a compound mixture
Inhalation - To draw in the breath
Injection - Any preparation to be introduced by the rectum
Inorganic - Matter not having organs, all alike, as metals
Insanity - Derangement of the mind
Insertion - The attachment of muscles and tendons to the bones, which they move by contraction
Inspiration - The act of drawing in the breath
Inspissation - To thicken by boiling, to make what is called the concentrated extracts, desiccation
Instinct - An involuntary action, as closing the eyelids, breathing, etc., natural perception of animals
Integument - A covering, the skin
Inter - A prefix denoting between
Intercostal - Between the ribs
Intermission - Time between paroxysms of fever or other disease
Intermittent Fever - Fever which comes on at regular periods, between which periods there is little and sometimes no fever, an interval
Internal - Upon the inside
Interosseous - Between the bones
Interval - The period between the paroxroysms of periodical diseases, as ague, etc.
Intestines - The contents of the abdomen
Intolerance - In medicine, applied to the eye, as intolerance of light, tot he stomach as intolerance of food
Inversion Uteri - Inversion of the uterus
Inversion - To turn the inside out
Irreducible - Applied to hernia, and to joints which have been put out and cannot be put back to their place
Ischuria - Not being able to pass the urine
Issue - Sore made as a counter-irritant, to draw irritation from a diseased part
Itch - Psora, scabies, a catching eruption of the skin
Itis - An addition to a word denoting inflammation, as pleuritis, pleurisy, etc.
Ivory Black - Animal charcoal
Jaundice - A disease caused by the inactivity of the liver or ducts leading from it
Jelly - Gelatine in a fluid state, as applied to medicine
Jesuits Bark - First name of Peruvian bark, from its having been discovered by Jesuit missionaries
Juglar - Applied to veins of the throat (jugular)
Jujube - An East India fruit, something like a plum, used in coughs, but of doubtful reputation
Kali - Potash
Kelp - Ashes of sea-weed
Knot - Surgeons tie their knot by passing the thread twice through the loop, which prevents slipping
Labia - Lips
Labia Pudendi - Lips, or sides of the vulva
Labial - Of or belonging to the lips
Labor - Childbirth, parturition
Laboratory - A place of chemical experiments or operations
Lancinating - Sharp, piercing, as lancinating pain
Laryngeal - Of the larynx
Larynx - The upper part of the throat
Laryngitis - Inflammation of the throat
Latent - Hidden, as latent heat
Lassitude - Weakness, a feeling of stupor
Laxative - A very gentle cathartic
Leptandrin - Powder made from the leptandria virginica, blackroot, Culvers physic
Leucorrhea - Fluor albus, whites, chlorosis, etc.
Levigate - To reduce to a very fine powder
Ligature - A thread, to ligate, to tie with a ligature
Located - Fixed, seated upon some organ
Lingua - The tongue
Linguist - A speaker, fluency, one who understands different languages
Liniment - A fluid preparation to be applied by friction
Lithontriptic - A medicine reported to dissolve gravel or stone in the bladder
Lithotomy - The operation of cutting, to take out stone of the bladder
Liver - The largest gland and largest organ of the body
Livid - A dark colored spot on the surface
Loins - Lower part of the back
Lotion - A preparation to wash a sore
Lubricate - To soften with oil or to moisten with a fluid. The internal organs are covered with a membrane which throws out a lubricating fluid, enabling them to move easily upon each other
Lute - A paste with which to close chemical retorts, the casein, curd or milk, used for that purpose.
Lymph - A thin colorless fluid carried in small vein-like vessels called lymphatics
Macerate - To steep, soften by soaking
Mal - Bad, mal practice, bad practice, not according to science
Malformation - Irregular, unnatural formation
Malaria - Bad gases, causing disease, supposed to arise from decaying vegetation
Malignant - A pestilential and generally dangerous disease as the Cholera of 1832.
Mamma - The female breast, which is composed of glands that secrete the milk upon the principle that the liver secretes bile; each organ for its specific purpose; but secreting organs or glands are the more liable to get obstructed, thus producing disease
Mastication - The act of chewing
Masturbation - Excitement by the hand of the genital organs. The most injurious, health-destroying, soul debasing, of all evils introduced into the world. Because its frequent repetition draws very heavily upon the nervous system, prostrating the energies, destroying the memory, together with the life-principle, as well as the principles of morality which out to govern every human being, between himself and his Creator.
Maturity - To become ripe, to arrive at adult age, beyond further growth
Materia - Matter, healthy substance
Materia Medica - The science of medicine, and medical combinations
Maturation - Formation of pus, unhealthy matter
Matrix - The womb
Meconium - The first passages after birth
Medical - Relating to medicine
Medicated _ Having medicine in its preparation
Membrane - A thin lining or covering skin like, as the peritoneum, which lines the cavity of the bowels and covers the intestines; and the periosteum membrane which covers the bones, etc.
Medicament - A remedy, the Welch remedy for every disease
Medicinal - Having medical properties
Medullary - Like marrow, brain-like
Mel - Honey
Menstruation - Monthly flow
Mentha Piperita - Peppermint
Median - The middle
Mellifluous - Flowing with honey, sweetness, delicious; akin to luscious, juicy, mellowness
Menorrhagia - Excessive flooding
Micturition - To urinate, to pass the urine
Midwifery - Art of assisting at childbirth
Mini - About one drop, one sixtieth of a fluid drachm
Minimum - The smallest, the smallest dose, the opposite of maximum
Modus Operandi - The way in which medicines act, applicable also to any action, the way of doing it
Morbid - Unhealthy
Morbus - A disease; hence, cholera morbus, disease of the bowels
Mordant - That which fastens the colors in dyeing, as alum, cream of tartar, argal, vitriols, tin, liquor, etc.
Mucus - Animal mucilage
Mucilage - A watery solution of gum or elm bark, etc.
Muriatic - Having reference to sea salt
Muriatic Acid - Marine acid, often called hydrochloric acid
Muscle - A bundle of fibers
Muscular - Having reference to the muscles, strong built
Myrrh - A resinous gum
Narcotic - Stupefying medicines, producing sleep
Nares - The nostrils
Nasal - Of the nose
Nausea - Sickness of the stomach, may increase until vomiting takes place or it may not
Nauseant - That which produces nausea
Navel - Center of the abdomen
Necros - Death
Necrosis - Death of a bone
Nephros - The kidney
Nephritis - Inflammation of the kidney or kidneys
Nervous - Easily excited
Nervine - That which will allay or soothe nervous excitement
Neuralgia - Pain in nerves
Nitrate - Nitric acid combined with alkalies or alkaline salts
Nitre - Saltpeter
Nocturnal - Occurring in the night
Normal - In a natural and healthy condition
Nostrum - A medical preparation
Nothus - Spurious, illegitimate, a bastard
Nudus - Nude, without clothing
Nutrition - Nourishment
Nutritious - Nourishing
Obesity - Corpulence, excess of fat or flesh
Obstetrics - The science of midwifery
Ochre - An ore of iron
Oculist - An eye doctor
Oleaginous - An oily substance
Omentum - The caul, peritoneal covering of the intestines
Opacity - To obstruct light
Opaque - Not transparent, inability to see through it
Ophalmos - The eye
Opthalmia - Disease of the eye, inflammation of the eye
Opiate - An anodyne
Organic - Bodies made up of organs
Organism - Vital organization
Organized - Furnished with life
Orgasm - The closing excitement of sexual connection
Origin - The point of commencement
Orifice - An opening
Os Tince - Mouth of the womb or uterus
Osseous - A bony substance
Ossification - To become bone; from ost, or osteo, bone or like bone
Ostalgia - Pain in a bone
Osteoma - Tumor, like bone
Ostitis - Inflammation of a bone or bones
Otic - Having reference to the ear
Otitis - Inflammation of the ear
Otorrhea - Discharge from the ear
Ova - An egg, made up of little eggs
Ovaria - Testes; most generally applied to the female; female testes, two egg-shaped bodies (made up of little particles or eggs) having an attachment to the uterus in the brad ligaments which support that organ, having tubes or ducts, opening from them into the uterus, called Fallopian tubes, from the man's name who first gave a description of them, One of these particles is thrown off at each menstrual flow.
Oviparous - Birds or any animals that produce their young from eggs or by eggs
Ovum - An egg
Oxalic Acid - An acid found in sorrel, very poisonous
Oxide - A combination of oxygen with a metal or fluid as oxygen combining with vinegar-fluid, forms vinegar, oxygen combining with iron, forms oxide of iron, rust of iron, etc.
Oxygen - One of the elements of the air, an acidifying (souring) principle, and an element (a particle or part) of water
Oxymel - A preparation of vinegar and honey, from mel - honey
Ozena - Feted ulcer of the nose or fetid discharge from the nose
Pabulum - Food; aliment
Pad - A cushion
Palliative - To afford relief, only
Palpitation - Unhealthy, or unnatural beating of the heart
Pan - As a prefix, means all
Panacea - Remedy for all diseases, consequently (speaking ironically) any patent medicine
Paralysis - Loss of motion, numb-palsy
Partus - Labor, the young when brought forth
Parturition - Childbirth
Paroxysm - A fit of disease occurring at certain periods
Periodical - Occurring at a certain time
Petal - A flower leaf, as rose leaves, etc.
Phthisis - A wasting, consumption
Pathos - A disease
Pathology - The doctrine of disease
Pectoral - Pertaining to the breast
Pediluvium - A foot bath
Pendulous - To hand down
Penis - The male organ of generation
Pepsine - A peculiar substance in the stomach which aids digestion
Peptic - Digestive; hence, dyspeptic, not digesting
Percolation - To run or draw through some substance, straining
Premonitory - To give a previous notice, as premonitory symptions
Peri - Around, a covering
Pericardium - Around the heart, sac containing the heart
Pericarditis - Inflammation of the pericardium
Perin - A testicle, male organs, corresponding with testes in females, with this difference, however, that with males they are upon the outside, whilst with females they are upon the inside of the body.
Perineum - That part between the anus and organs of generation or genitals
Perineal - Relating to the region of the perineum
Period - A certain time
Periodicity - Returning at a certain time
Periosteum - The membrane which covers all bones
Perspective View - As it appears to the eye at a certain distance
Perturbation - To disturb
Perversion - An unhealthy change; to change from its proper or natural course
Pessary - That which will support or hold up the womb, in prolapsus
Phagedenic - An eating and fast-spreading ulcer
Pharmacy - The art of combining and preparing medicines
Phlegm - mucus from the bronchial tubes and throat
Phlogistic - Tendency to inflammation
Phosphorus - An inflammable and luminous substance, prepared from urine and bones
Phosphate - Phosphoric acid in combination with metals, as phosphate of iron, phosphate of lime, etc.
Piles - Tumors at or in the anus; sometimes protruding; often attended with hemorrhage, then called hemorrhoids
Piperine - A preparation from black pepper considered valuable in ague
Placenta - After-birth, which has a connection to the womb and to the child during pregnancy, but is naturally thrown off by the violent contractions of the womb at this period, there being no further use of it. "Oh the wisdom of our Creator, how glorious to contemplate! Everything adapted to the necessities of the case." Dr. A.W. Chase 1871.
Plethora - Over fullness; if healthy, causing obesity, corpulence
Pleuritis - inflammation of the pleura, pleurisy
Pneumon - The lungs
Pleura - The serous membrane covering the lungs and folded upon the sides
Pneumonia - Inflammation of the lungs
Podophyllin - A powder made from the podophyllum peltatum, mandrake root
Pomum - The apple; hence, pomace, mashed apple
Potassium - The basis of potash
Potus - A drink; hence, a potion, a medicated drink
Predisposition - A tendency to a certain disease
Pregnancy - Being with child
Prognosis - The art of Guessing how a disease will terminate
Prolapsus - A falling
Prolapsus Ani - Falling of the anus
Prolapsus Uteri - Falling of the uterus
Prostration - Without strength
Prussiate - A compound with prussic acid
Prussic Acid - Hydrocyanic acid; one of, or the most virulent poison in existence
Psora - The itch
Pubes - The prominence at the lower front part of the body
Puberty - Full growth; an adult; perfection
Pubic - Having reference to the region of the pubes
Pudendum - The female organs of generation
Puer - A boy or child
Puerpera - A woman who has just brought forth a child; hence, puerperal fever, fever at or soon after childbirth
Pulmo - A lung
Pulmonitis - Inflammation of the lung or lungs
Pulmonary - Relating to the lungs, as pulmonary balsam, pulmonic wafers, etc.
Pulvis - A powder; hence, pulverize to make fine. All these words show how heavily we have drawn upon other languages for our own, consequently, the necessity of studying the Latin and Greek to properly understand ours
Pupil - The dark circle in the eye
Purgative - a gentle cathartic
Pus - Unhealthy matter
Pustule - A slight elevation having pus
Putrefaction - To decompose by fermentation
Putrid - Rotten, decomposed
Pyroligneous Acid - An acid obtained from wood; the essence of smoke; if a little of it is put into a barrel with meat in the brine, it smokes it without trouble. I think 1 gill to the barrel sufficient, perhaps a little less will do. It is obtained by inserting an old gun barrel or other iron tube into a coal put near the bottom, when burning; it condenses in the tube and drops from the outer end into a dish, then bottle for use
Quassia - A bitter tonic; the chips of the wood are used
Rachis - The spine
Rachitis - Rickets, bending of the spine and sometimes the long bones of the limbs; may be also enlargement of the head, bowels, and the ends of the long bones
Radius - The bone of the upper arm
Radial - Having reference to the upper arm
Radiated - Diverging from a center
Radix - A root
Ramus - A branch
Ramification - To branch out
Rancidity - Rancid, stale; applied to oil, fat, butter, etc.
Rash - A redness of the skin, I patches
Ratsbane - Arsenious acid, arsenic
Rattle - Noise of air passing through mucus, as in croup
Reaction - To return, after recession
Recession - Striking in the blood, or disease going to the internal organs
Rectum - The lower portion of the intestines
Reduction - To set a fracture or to return a hernia
Refrigerant - A cooling medicine or drink
Regimen - Regulation of diet and habits to preserve health or to cure disease
Relapse - Recurrence of disease after an improve appearance which is generally worse than the first attack
Relaxation - Losing the healthy tone of any part or the whole system
Repletion - Fullness
Reproduction - Generation, procreation
Respiration - To breathe, including both inspiration and expiration
Resolution - To return to health, applied t inflammations
Retching - A effort to vomit
Tetention - Delay of the natural passage of urine or feces
Revulsion - To draw away disease as draughts or blisters, irritating plasters, etc.
Rheumatism - Inflammation of the fibrous tissue, mostly confined to the large joints
Recini Oleum - Castor oil
Rigor - Coldness with shivering
Rochelle Salts - A mixture of tartarate of potash and soda
Rubefacients - Medicines which cause redness of the skin, as mustard, radish leaves, etc.
Rupture - Hernia; by some, called a breach
Saccharine - The properties of sugar
Saliva - The secretion of the mouth, spittle; hence, salivation an increased flow of saliva
Salt - A compound of acid with an alkali or metal.
Saltpetre - Nitrate of potash
Salubrious - Climate favorable to health
Sanative - A curative medicine
Sanguis - Blood
Sanguinious - Bloody-sanguinious discharge, a bloody-flux
Santonin - A powder obtained from wormseed
Sarcoma - A fleshy tumor, generally of a cancerous nature
Scabies - The itch
Scirrhus - A hard tumor, generally of a cancerous nature
Scrofula - A constitutional tendency to disease of the glands
Scrotum - The sac which encloses the testicles
Sedative - To depress, the opposite of stimulation
Seidlitz - A village of bohemia; hence; seidlitz powders, which originated at that place
Sinapis - Mustard; hence sinapisms, mustard plasters
Slough - Death of a part, allowing it to come out from the healthy part
Stimulant - A medicine calculated to excite an increased and healthy action
Styptic - To stop bleeding
Snake-root - Common or Virginia Snake-root; but black snake-root is the black-cohosh
Spasm - Cramp or convulsion
Specific - A remedy having a uniform action producing health
Sperm - Seminal fluid, now more often called the semen, seed
Spermatic - Having reference to the testicles, or ovaries
Spina - The back-bone, hence, spine
Stitch - A spasmodic pain
Stoma - the mouth
Stomatitis - Inflammation of the mouth
Strangulation - To choke; also applied to hernia which cannot be reduced.
Sudor - Sweat; hence, sudorific, to sweat
Sulphate - A combination with sulphuric acid
Sulphuric Acid - Oil of vitriol
Suppression - An arrest of natural discharge
Suppuration - to produce pus
Sympathy - To be affected by the disease of another organ, as sick-headache from over loading the stomach
Symptom - A sign of disease
Syncope - To swoon, fainting
Syphilis - Disease from sexual connection with those who have venereal disease
Tannic Acid - An acid from oak bark, an astringent
Tartaric Acid - An acid from cream of tartar, found in grapes
Tenesmus - difficulty and pain at stool with a desire to go to stool often
Tent - A roll of lint or cloth to keep wounds open until they heal from the bottom
Testes - Usually refers to male testicles
Therapeutics - Relating to a knowledge of treating disease, the curative action of medicine
Thorax - The chest
Tibia - The large bone of the lower leg
Tonsils - Glands on each side of the throat
Trachea - The windpipe
Translation - Disease going to some other organ
Triturate - To rub into a powder
Tumor - An enlargement of a portion, usually of the internal parts
Ulna - Small or under bone of the arm
Umbilicus - The navel
Ureter - Duct leading from the kidney to the bladder
Urethra - Duct leading out from the bladder
Uterus - The womb
Vagina - The passage from the womb to the vulva
Venery - Sexual indulgence
Vermifuge - Having the property to destroy worms
Virus - Contagious poison
Vulva - External opening of the female genitals
Whites - Fluor albus
Yeast - The principle of fermentation
Zinci Sulphas - Sulphate of zinc, white vitriol