English
Morgellons
Morgellons may come from Provençal masclous ‘little flies’.
- Provençalprehistoric (reconstructed)masclous‘little flies’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1690Morgellons
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Provençalprehistoric (reconstructed)masclous‘little flies’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1690Morgellons
Earliest quotation: 1690, Thomas Browne: “But Hairs make fallible Predictions, and many Temples early…”
The story
Coined in 2004 by Mary Leitao after a description of an illness in Thomas Browne's A Letter to a Friend (c. 1656, pub. 1690), “that Endemial Distemper of little Children in Languedock, called the Morgellons, wherein they critically break out with harsh Hairs on their Backs”, apparently a corruption of Masquelons, from Provençal masclous (‘little flies’).
Every English word from Provençal masclous
Today it means
noun An unproven skin disorder, usually thought to be delusional parasitosis, characterized by skin lesions in which fibers are found.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Provençal masclous / Morgellons