erysipelas
Americannoun
-
Pathology. an acute, febrile infectious disease, caused by a specific streptococcus, characterized by diffusely spreading deep-red inflammation of the skin or mucous membranes.
-
Also called swine erysipelas. Veterinary Pathology. a disease of swine, caused by the organism Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, characterized by urticaria, vegetative endocarditis, arthritis, and sometimes septicemia.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of erysipelas
1350–1400; Middle English erisipila < Latin erysipelas < Greek, equivalent to erysi- (probably akin to erythrós red) + -pelas probably skin (akin to pélma sole of the foot; compare Latin pellis skin)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In an interview with newspaper O Globo, Mourão chalked up Bolsonaro’s absence to erysipelas, a skin infection on his legs that he said prevents the president from wearing pants.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 25, 2022
In an interview with newspaper O Globo, Vice President Hamilton Mourão chalked up Bolsonaro’s absence to erysipelas, a skin infection on his legs that he said prevents the president from wearing pants.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 22, 2022
Four major infections were accepted as largely inevitable: septicaemia, erysipelas, gangrene and pyaemia.
From Nature ● Oct. 3, 2017
One case leapt out at him: a patient who had several unsuccessful operations to remove a huge sarcoma from his face, and wound up with a severe infection, then called erysipelas, caused by Streptococcal bacteria.
From New York Times ● Jul. 30, 2016
Urticaria also is often of symmetrical development, is rarely accompanied by fever, and is characterized by typical wheals, which, however closely packed together, never have the smoothness of the surface affected with erysipelas.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
