ergotism

[ ur-guh-tiz-uhm ]

nounPathology.

a condition caused by eating rye or some other grain that is infected with ergot fungus or by taking an overdose of a medicine containing ergot, characterized by cramps, spasms, and a form of gangrene.

Origin of ergotism

First recorded in 1850–55; ergot + -ism

Words Nearby ergotism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ergotism in a sentence

Thus far the foreign experience of ergotism, both medieval and modern, and of its several types.
A History of Epidemics in Britain (Volume I of II) | Charles Creighton
It is almost exclusively among the peasantry that symptoms of ergotism have been seen, and among children particularly.
A History of Epidemics in Britain (Volume I of II) | Charles Creighton
The first undoubted instance of ergotism in England belongs to the eighteenth century.
A History of Epidemics in Britain (Volume I of II) | Charles Creighton
Chronic poisoning, or ergotism, used frequently to occur amongst the poor fed on rye infected with the Claviceps.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 7 | Various
The last-known “epidemic” of ergotism occurred in Lorraine and Burgundy in the year 1816.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 7 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for ergotism

ergotism

/ (ˈɜːɡəˌtɪzəm) /

noun

ergot poisoning, producing either burning pains and eventually gangrene in the limbs or itching skin and convulsions: Also called: Saint Anthony's fire

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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