sweating sickness

sweating sickness

noun
a febrile epidemic disease that appeared in the 15th and 16th centuries: characterized by profuse sweating and frequently fatal in a few hours.

Origin:
1495–1505
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Sweating sickness is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
Collins
World English Dictionary
sweating sickness
 
n
1.  the nontechnical name for miliary fever
2.  an acute infectious febrile disease that was widespread in Europe during the late 15th century, characterized by profuse sweating
3.  a disease of cattle, esp calves, prevalent in southern Africa. Transmitted by ticks, it is characterized by sweating, hair loss, and inflammation of the mouth and eyes

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

sweating sickness

a disease of unknown cause that appeared in England as an epidemic on six occasions-in 1485, 1506, 1517, 1528, 1551, and 1578. It was confined to England, except in 1528-29, when it spread to the European continent, appearing in Hamburg and passing northward to Scandinavia and eastward to Lithuania, Poland, and Russia; the Netherlands also were involved, but the disease did not spread to France or Italy

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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