Archaic Medical Terms

This site is an heroic, one-man effort by Paul Smith, a British doctor who has provided an extremely thorough listing of all the archaic medical terminology you are ever likely to come across, together with very useful descriptions for the more common causes of death in the past and meanings of some folk and slang terms. He also points out where terms we think we understand may have a different medical meaning, or different connotations when used in the past. If you can't find what you need on this site, or from any of the alternative reference sources recommended by Smith, you can email him with the details for a personal response. As well as the A-Z listing of terms, there are guides to symbols, abbreviations, poisons, and epidemics, and an explanation of how deaths are registered in the UK, and the potential for errors to appear on a death certificate.