ABSTRACT
The term tinea was introduced as early as AD 400 by the Romans, who believed that the “moth-eaten” appearance of the scalps of individuals with dermatophyte infections represented the work of the tinea moth worm. The British introduced the misnomer “ringworm” in the 1500s, which persists as a common colloquial term today. Sabouraud established the current classification of
dermatophytes into genera in his landmark work Les Teignes.1 It was not until the 1920s that Hopkins and Benham established medical mycology as a field of scientific study. Numerous investigators have since made major contributions to the study of dermatophytes.
