bubo

[byoo-boh, boo-]

noun

Pathology.

plural

buboes 

1. an inflammatory swelling of a lymphatic gland, especially in the groin or armpit.

bubo

/ ˈbjuːbəʊ, bjuːˈbɒnɪk /

noun

1. pathol inflammation and swelling of a lymph node, often with the formation of pus, esp in the region of the armpit or groin

bubo

plural

buboes 

1. A swelling of a lymph node, especially of the armpit or groin, that is characteristic of bubonic plague.

Other Word Forms

• buboed adjective
• bubonic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bubo¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin < Greek boubṓn literally, groin

Word History and Origins

Origin of bubo¹

C14: from Medieval Latin bubō swelling, from Greek boubōn groin, glandular swelling

Example Sentences

Bubonic plague is the most common type of plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, characterised by swollen lymph nodes called "buboes".

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More than 80% of plague cases in the U.S. have been in the bubonic form, from which patients will develop swollen, painful lymph nodes called buboes, according to the CDC.

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He was far from his natural home: Eurasian eagle-owls, known by the scientific name Bubo bubo, are apex predators typically found in much of continental Europe, Scandinavia, Russia and Central Asia.

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Symptoms included skin tissue darkened by gangrene and swelling of lymph nodes, or buboes — the source of the term “bubonic.”

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The bacterial disease was named the Black Death after the dark swellings or "buboes" that victims suffered.

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