ψωρίασις

Forms

ψωρῐ́ᾱσῐς (psōríāsis) f (genitive ψωρῐᾱ́σεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ψωριάω (psōriáō, “to have the itch”) + -σις (-sis), a noun of action from the verb.^[1][2] The verb is made from ψώρα (psṓrā, “itch, mange”).^[1][3] Wiktionary, following Beekes, puts the noun with ψάω (psā́ō, “to rub, wipe”) and ψωρός (psōrós, “itchy, mangy”), under one Pre-Greek root.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Dioscorides (1st century AD), in the plural, as another word for ψώρα (psṓrā), an itchy, scabby eruption of the skin.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

In Greek it remained a rare medical word, used by Dioscorides and Galen of scabby or mangy eruptions.^[4][5][6] Late Latin took it over as psoriasis for mange or scurvy.^[7] Medical Latin passed it on to English in the 1680s, where it now names a chronic, non-contagious skin disease with dry red patches covered in scales.^[7]

Modern Greek has it as the learned word ψωρίαση (psoríasi), for the same non-contagious skin disease and, in botany, for a disease of plants.^[8][9] The Χρηστικό Λεξικό traces the modern word to the post-classical Greek word and to French and English psoriasis.^[9]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses the plural for itchy, scabby eruptions.^[4][2]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it in his works on compound drugs.^[5][6]
• 1680s – English borrows the medical Latin form as psoriasis.^[7]
• Modern Greek – The learned word ψωρίαση (psoríasi) names a chronic, non-contagious skin disease.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. An itchy, scabby eruption of the skin, the same as ψώρα (psṓrā) (itch, mange).^[4][2][10]

Related words

• ψώρα (psṓrā)
• ψωριάω (psōriáō)
• English psoriasis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
10. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg