psoriasis

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin psoriasis,^[2][3][4][5] a medical use of the post-classical Latin word for mange or scurvy, recorded from the 5th century,^[6][2] from Ancient Greek ψωρίασις (psōríasis, “the itch, a being itchy”),^[6][2][7] from ψωριάω (psōriáō, “to have the itch”),^[6][2][7] from ψώρα (psṓra, “itch, mange, scab”), with the suffix -σις (-sis).^[6][8] The Greek noun psṓra is probably related to ψάω (psáō, “to rub”);^[2][3][5] Barnhart compares a Sanskrit verb meaning to chew.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any of various scaly or scabby skin diseases: 1684, in a translation of Blankaart's Physical Dictionary.^[6] Etymonline dates it to the 1680s, Merriam-Webster Unabridged to about 1684 and Dictionary.com to 1675–85;^[2][3][8] Hoad gives the 19th century.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The OED notes that the word first covered various scaly or scabby diseases of the skin, like the older psora, and only later became the name of one specific disorder, which has a hereditary component.^[6] Collins likewise notes that it tends to run in families.^[10]

Timeline

• 1684 – a scaly or scabby disease of the skin; later, the specific chronic disorder.^[6][3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chronic, non-contagious skin disease in which red patches covered with white or silvery scales form on the body: Her psoriasis flared up during the winter.^{[3][10][6][2]}

Word family

• psoriatic

Related words

• psora

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins