ABSTRACT
Medical terminology of the mid-seventeenth century is a combination of popular lay health beliefs and scientific concepts based upon humoral and iatrochemical medicine. Hence, the meaning of these terms is often alien to the modern reader. Numerous disease terms have not been in common usage for at least one century, while many extant terms had significantly different meanings to the practioners and patients of that era. This glossary presents contemporaneous definitions of key medical terms found in The Skilful Physician. The original spelling and language have been preserved to convey both the denotation and connotation of the terms. When definitions vary between contemporary sources, the range of these definitions is presented. Since these terms are based upon etiologic mechanisms and nosologies that differ significantly from a modern view, no attempt is made to bias the reader by relating these definitions directly to modern terminology.
