king's evil

American  

noun

1. scrofula: so called because it was supposed to be curable by the touch of the reigning sovereign.

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king's evil British  

noun

1. pathol a former name for scrofula

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Etymology

Origin of king's evil

1350–1400; Middle English kynges evel

Example Sentences

Either the woman may have been hired to play her part, and was not really a martyr to the king’s evil, or she may not be cured.

From Roger Willoughby A Story of the Times of Benbow by Webb, Archibald

Brand, who refers to various spitting customs, quotes Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft regarding the saliva cure for king's evil, which is still, by the way, practised in the Hebrides.

From Myths of Babylonia and Assyria by Mackenzie, Donald Alexander

"This copy possesses the large folded engraving of Henry IV., assisted by his courtiers in the ceremony of curing the king's evil."

From Notes and Queries, Number 69, February 22, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Bell, George

He was the first of our princes that attempted to cure the king's evil by touching.

From The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D. — Volume 10 Historical Writings by Swift, Jonathan

The lady was Queen Anne, to whom, in compliance with a superstition just dying a natural death, he had been taken by his mother to be touched for the king's evil.

From Samuel Johnson by Stephen, Leslie, Sir