acne

Etymology

It is apparently borrowed from New Latin acne, recorded in post-classical Latin from 1713,^[2] also acna,^[3] perhaps from Byzantine Greek ἀκνή (aknḗ), a copying error for Ancient Greek ἀκμή (akmḗ, “eruption on the face, pimple”), a specific use of the Greek word for a point, the source of acme.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The OED notes that the Greek medical writer Cassius (3rd century) asked why pimples appear on the face at the critical time, the akmḗ, so that some ignorant people named them after it, and that the Byzantine writer Aëtius (6th century) writes the plural with the letter mu in one passage and with nu in a later one, both for pimples.^[2] Etymonline, Hoad and the Shorter Oxford likewise derive the word from a misreading of the accusative plural, with nu for mu,^[7][8][9] and Barnhart blames a misspelling by Aëtius.^[10] The Greek noun comes from Proto-Indo-European *ak- (“be sharp, rise to a point, pierce”),^[7] which Ayto relates to acid, edge and oxygen.^[6] Weekley and Partridge instead suggested Ancient Greek ἄχνη (ákhnē, “small particle; froth, chaff, down”).^[11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

A disease of the skin with blackheads, pimples and pustules: 1743, in Robert James's Medicinal Dictionary.^[2][3] Other dictionaries date the English word later: Dictionary.com to 1820–30,^[13] Etymonline to 1813,^[7] Barnhart to 1835,^[10][14] and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 19th century.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its medical meaning: Etymonline explains it from the pointed shape of the pimples.^[7] Ayto finds it ironic that a word for a low point in many teenagers' lives comes from acme, "the highest point", through a mistransliteration that has stuck.^[6] The Shorter Oxford records acned, having acne, as a colloquial adjective from the mid 20th century.^[9]

Timeline

• 1713 – acne in post-classical Latin.^[2]
• 1743 – first English record, in a medical dictionary.^[2][3]
• 1813 – Etymonline's first date.^[7]
• 1835 – Barnhart's first date.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A skin disease common in adolescence, in which inflamed sebaceous glands and hair follicles cause pimples, blackheads and pustules on the face, neck and upper body, also called acne vulgaris.^[15][3][2]
2. Any of several similar inflammatory disorders of the skin's oil glands, such as acne rosacea.^[3][9]

Word family

• acned
• acnegenic
• chloracne
• acne rosacea

Related words

• acme

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
13. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
14. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
15. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins