ophthalmia

American  

[of-thal-mee-uh, op-] / ɒfˈθæl mi ə, ɒp- /

noun

1. inflammation of the eye, especially of its membranes or external structures.

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ophthalmia British  

/ ɒfˈθælmɪə /

noun

1. inflammation of the eye, often including the conjunctiva

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Other Word Forms

• ophthalmiac noun

Etymology

Origin of ophthalmia

1350–1400; < Late Latin < Greek ophthalmía, equivalent to ophthalm ( ós ) eye + -ia -ia; replacing Middle English obtalmia < Medieval Latin, Late Latin as above

Example Sentences

While there, she accidentally contracted conjunctivitis from an infant with gonorrhea ophthalmia and subsequently lost an eye after a long and painful convalescence.

From Washington Post • Feb. 4, 2021

Many states, realizing this, have legally outlawed ophthalmia neonatorum, making prophylactic treatment of the eyes of newborns compulsory, supplying prophylactic outfits through health departments.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hard it is to look at a Gothic building without a romanticizing ophthalmia, harder still to consider a Gothic personage.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Bernard! How can you?” the passage of an old woman with ophthalmia and a disease of the skin distracted her from her indignation.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

By a painstaking inquiry he established that this lycium was the Lykion indikon of Dioscorides, drug used by ancient Greeks as an application to the eyes in various kinds of ophthalmia.

From Sir James Young Simpson and Chloroform (1811-1870) Masters of Medicine by Gordon, Henry Laing