king's evil

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English

Etymology

From a popular belief that the King could cure the disease by touching the sufferer.

Noun

king's evil (uncountable)

  1. (archaic) scrofula
    • 1806, Robert Willan, On vaccine inoculation:
      Suppose the person the matter is taken from, has the king's evil, the pox, madness, or some other inveterate disease — I am sure the inoculator can give no reason why it should not convey one distemper as well as the other.
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