Ague – An old term for illnesses that involve fever and fits of shivering.
Almshouse – A house founded by charity, offering accommodation for the poor.
Alternative medicine – Medicine that uses herbs and other natural remedies, as well as therapies such as acupuncture, instead of drugs.
Amputation – The cutting off of a limb – for example, an arm or a leg – from the body.
Anaesthetic – A substance that affects your nervous system so that you are less aware of sensation and don’t feel pain.
Anatomy – The structure of the body, for example bones, nerves, muscles.
Antibiotics – Drugs that stop infections caused by bacteria.
Antibodies – Special cells created by the body to fight infection and disease.
Antiseptic – Something that fights against sepsis and the microbes that create infection.
Apothecary – A person who made medicines and ointments using ingredients such as herbs and spices.
Appendix – A tube-shaped sac attached to the large intestine; appendicitis occurs when it is inflamed.
Artery – A blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to all parts of the body.
Aseptic – Sterile; free from the microbes that cause infection.
Astrology – The study of the stars and planets and how they are thought to affect humans and nature.
Asylum – An old type of hospital for those who were mentally ill.
Bacteria – Micro-organisms that live in soil, water, plants and animals and that can cause diseases.
Bile – A thick, bitter fluid produced by the liver; a liquid once thought to be one of the Four Humours.
Black Death – A highly infectious disease that spread throughout Europe in the mid-14th century.
Bloodletting – The drawing of blood from a patient by a doctor.
Body snatcher – A person who used to obtain dead bodies illegally and sell them to medical schools for dissection.
By-law – A law made by a town’s local authority that affects only that town.
Cautery – The use of heat to seal blood vessels and stop bleeding.
Cesspit – A pit for the disposal of liquid waste and sewage, for homes that aren’t connected to a sewer.
Chamber pot – A ‘potty’ that was kept in a room or chamber, for people who needed the toilet and did not go to the outside privy or latrine.
Chromosomes – Thread-like structures found in most living cells that carry genetic information.
Church, The – The international organisation of all Christian believers.
Cloning – Using cells from one organism to make another identical organism.
Consultant – A doctor specialising in a specific disease or part of the body; usually based in hospital and seeing patients referred by a general practitioner (GP).
Crystallography – Using radiation to take a high-power X-ray photograph.
Curare – A poison obtained from South American plants and used as an anaesthetic.
Diagnosis – Identifying an illness by examining the symptoms.
Dialysis – Removal of impurities from the blood by a kidney machine.
Dissection – Cutting open a body to examine its internal structure.
DNA – The abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, which contains the genetic instructions for every cell in your body.
Druid – A priest or magician of the ancient Celtic religion.
Endoscope – An instrument with a tiny camera on the end that can be used to look at the internal parts of the body.
Epidemic – A severe outbreak of an infectious disease.
Ethics – A set of moral principles followed by members of a profession, such as medical ethics.
Flagellants – People who whip themselves as a punishment and to show God that they are sorry
Folk remedies – Traditional remedies practised by ordinary people, not doctors, and passed down through history, often by word of mouth.
Four Humours – A theory that developed in Ancient Greece to explain illness.
Gall bladder – The sac attached to the liver that stores bile.
Gangrene – Occurs when body tissue dies, which can be caused by infection or bad circulation.
General practitioner(GP) – A doctor who works in a practice dealing directly with the public.
Genetics – The study of genes and inherited characteristics.
Herbals – Books containing descriptions of plants used in herbal medicine.
Hereditary – Passed on from one generation of a family to another.
Hygiene – Conditions or practices, especially cleanliness, that maintain health and prevent disease
Hypnotism – Putting a person into a trance-like state that is like sleep, but in which the person readily accepts suggestions and acts on them.
Immunisation – Making immune to infection, usually by vaccination.
Industrial – Connected to industry and manufacturing.
Industrial revolution – The period c1750-c1900 when there were rapid changes in the way work and industry were organised.
Inoculation – A way of giving a patient a mild dose of an illness so that the body builds up its immunity.
Journal – (1) An account that is written up at regular intervals, like a diary – this is a personal and private source. (2) A published set of articles (like an academic magazine), for example The Lancet is a respected medical journal containing articles by doctors and researchers.
Laissez-faire – The idea that government should not interfere too much with industry and private business.
Latrine – A toilet, especially a communal one, often in an army camp, for example.
Leech – A blood-sucking worm used to draw blood from a patient; also an old name for a physician.
Ligature – A thread tied around a blood vessel to stop bleeding.
Magic bullet – A chemical drug that kills the microbes causing a specific disease without harming the rest of the body.
Malaria – ‘Bad air’; people used to believe that malaria was a fever caused by poisonous air arising from marshes. The illness is now known to be caused by mosquitoes.
Medieval – A name for the ‘Middle Ages’, the period between the Ancient World (which ended when the Romans left Britain) and the Renaissance of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Miasma – The theory that disease is caused by poisonous vapours in the air.
Microbes – Micro-organisms, especially bacteria causing disease.
Midwife – A woman, or nowadays also a man, who assists women in childbirth.
National Health Service (NHS) – An organisation set up by the government in 1948 to give free health care to all.
Obesity – The state of being grossly fat or overweight.
Opium – An addictive drug prepared from the juice of the poppy, which can be used to ease pain.
Patent medicine – A mixture that has been created by one person or company and is sold under a particular brand name.
Pharmaceutical industry – The business of manufacturing medicinal drugs, prescribed by a doctor or sold by a chemist
Pharmacy – A business selling medical drugs; a chemist’s.
Physician – A trained doctor.
Physiology – The way organs function within the body; for example the work of the heart, liver and kidneys.
Plastic surgery – Surgery carried out in order to change the appearance of the patient.
Prescription charges – Payment for medicine that has been prescribed by a doctor.
Prosthetic limb – Artificial arm or leg, often made from metal and plastic.
Public health – The standard of living conditions and general health of the people.
Public health provision – Health provision for the whole community, such as the provision of fresh water, sewers and the availability of health care.
Purging – Getting rid of bad or excess humours by making someone sick or by making them have diarrhoea
Quarantine – The situation where someone who may have an infectious disease is isolated from other people to try to prevent the disease spreading; often the whole family is isolated.
Radiotherapy – The use of radiation in medicine, often to attack cancer.
Reformation – A period of challenges and divisions within the Christian Church.
Renaissance – A period in the 16th and 17th centuries when people thought they were reviving Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman culture but also made new discoveries
Royal Society – A group set up in 1660 to enable educated people to discuss scientific ideas.
Sanitation – Measures for the promotion of health and prevention of disease, especially the provision of drainage and sewers.
Sepsis – A condition in which harmful bacteria affect the flesh, normally leading to infection and decaying flesh.
Sewer – An underground system for removing liquid waste (sewage).
Society – The way a group of people links together in some common ways.
Spontaneous generation – The idea that rubbish or decaying material creates microbes.
Superbugs – Bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics.
Supernatural – Forces outside normal nature that some people believe can affect events, for example God, charms and luck, witchcraft or astrology.
Surgeon – Someone who deals with wounds or with treatment that involves cutting the body.
Tourniquet – Something that is tied around a part of the body to put pressure on a blood vessel and stop the loss of blood.
Transfusion – The process of giving blood form a donor to the patient.
Vaccination – A safe way of stimulating the body’s immune system against a particular disease
Vein – A blood vessel that carries blood from all parts of the body towards the heart.
Welfare state – The coordination and provision by the government of all matters affecting the health of the people.
Workhouse – An institution where people could go if they could not support themselves; they would be expected to work in return for their food and bed.