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

The power attached to them for this form of ailment was similar to that which the king's touch had for scrofula or the king's evil.

From Psychotherapy by Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)

A few days afterwards, he went to one William Maher, of Saltersbridge, in the parish of Lismore, who was grievously afflicted with the king's evil in his eyes, cheek, and throat.

From Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions — Volume 3 by Mackay, Charles

James II. visited Gloucester, and is said to have touched over a hundred persons for the king's evil, a proceeding to which he objected on the score of expense.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Gloucester [2nd ed.] A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See by Massé, H. J. L. J. (Henri Jean Louis Joseph)

In 1661, after a period of melancholy derangement, he believed that God had given him power of curing "king's evil" by touching or stroking and prayer.

From Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing by Cutten, George Barton

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