One of the most useful books you can have when first learning dermatology is a good Dermatologic Dictionary. Look up words and learn root meanings. You are learning a new language and this will help. The following is a group of words that I have looked up over the years and for one reason or another found useful or interesting enough to jot down...
acanth(o) | derived from the Greek word for thorn or prickle; in dermatology, used in forming words describing conditions of the prickle-cell layer of the epidermis |
Acanthosis a generalized thickening of the innermost (prickle) layer of the epidermis
acro- taken form Greek that refers to extremities, tips or high points
acrosyringium the spiral intraepidermal duct of the eccrine gland
acuminate (Latin: acuminatus) an adjective meaning rendered sharp or pointed
agminated meaning gathered together in a group
-amyl starch
anaplastic the prototypical malignant cell; devoid of significant differentiation
ankylosing fusion of the bones across a joint space
Aphthous ancient Greek word for ulcer
arthropods possess a hard external skeleton and jointed legs (mites, ticks, insects)
astringent | as an adjective, the word means binding, contracting, constrictive, or styptic and, as a noun, a substance that has those properties |
Bence-Jones protein free kappa or lambda light chains
carcinoma reserved for malignant neoplasia of epithelial tissues i.e. epidermis and endothelium
chalazion | AKA meibomian cyst; i.e. a swollen sebaceous gland in the eyelid (a subtype of “hordeolum”); caused by chronic inflammation following blockage of the glands’ ducts |
Cicatrix scar
colloid | bespeaks a material that resembles glue; DERMPATH: a characteristic tinctorial change of collagen stained with H&E that results in an amorphous or structure-less pinkness so called |
Comedones | - the non-inflammatory lesions of acne that result from keratin impaction in the outlet of the pilosebaceous canal |
- | open comedo or “blackhead” = appears as a dilated pore filled with black keratinous material (not dirt) |
- | closed comedo or “whitehead” = small, flesh colored, dome-shaped papule |
congloblate means gathered into ball (Latin globus, ball) (e.g. acne congloblata)
corn describes macerated hyperkeratosis at points of friction and pressure
coryza | (cold in the head) a catarrhal inflammation of the mucous membrane in the nose due to a cold or hay fever |
decalvans | a Latin present participle meaning becoming bald (-calvans) |
diutinum | Latin adjective meaning lasting for a long time (erythema elevatum diutinum) |
dyskeratosis | abnormal keratinization of squamous cells |
Dysplasia | refers to cytologic and architectural characteristics with some but not all of the characteristics of malignancy |
eosinophilic spongiosis | spongiosis and exocytosis of eosinophils |
epitope | antigenic determinant; smallest chemical group on the antigen molecule that can elicit and react with antibody; most antigens have many determinants, i.e. they are multivalent |
Excoriation linear crusts
felon an abscess of a fingertip, the so-called "closed space" infection, which is indeed a villainous thing
follicular individual lesions are more or less equidistant from one another
Forme fruste | an atypical form of a disease in which the usual symptoms fail to appear and its progress is stopped at an earlier stage than would ordinarily be expected |
fuscoceruleus fusco- dark, tawny; ceruleus- sky blue
glabrous Latin smooth, and by extension – without hair
Hamartoma | a group of tumor-like lesions, which represent non-neoplastic overgrowth of tissues indigenous to the site of their occurrence; they are thought to be developmental abnormalities |
hapten | a simple substance (e.g. nickel) that becomes antigenic by combining with and modifying the bodies own proteins |
harlequin | clown (harlequin fetus is a picturesque description of a severe grade of ichthyosis in which hyperkeratosis and diamond shaped exfoliation is so marked as to suggest the design , color and patchy condition of the traditional costume of a clown) |
Heliotropic (helio-) the sun
Holocrine
Hypertrophy increase in size of cells (vs. "hyperplasia")
Hyperplasia increase in number of cells (vs. "hypertrophy")
hystrix | the transliteration of the Greek word for a porcupine. The word is used in the title ichthyosis hystrix, to describe the verrucous character of this form of "ichthyosis" |
Ichthyosis | a congenital condition, usually present a birth, in which the skin is dry, rough, and scaly because of a defect in keratinization (hyperkeratosis) |
Keratoderma | from its Greek elements, literally means a pathologic condition of the skin (-derma) characterized by excessive formation of the horn (kerato-); Hyperkeratosis and tylosis are near synonyms; callosities, calluses, clavi and corns are keratoderma |
lamella | a layer, leaf, or plate |
lanugo hair | designates the fine hairs that are present on the body everywhere except the truly hairless areas (lanugo hairs on humans constitute a vestigial vellus) |
Lentigines | increased number of melanocytes and melanin (vs. freckles, which are due to increased melanin with normal number of melanocytes) |
Lichen | (a fungus and an algae) Greek and Latin: those dermatoses that vaguely resemble the botanical formations because they present to the eye a surface pattern of more or less closely agminated papules |
Livedo | Latin: we use the word for blueness from venous congestion |
lupus | Latin word for wolf; it has come to be applied to diseases whose lesions have a gnawed or eroded quality, such as might be imagined to result from a wolf (e.g. lupus vulgaris, DLE) |
marmorata | (Latin: like marble) superficial veining of skin that resembles certain pink, streaked marbles |
mite | a small or tiny arachnid |
necrobiosis | used in dermpath to describe simultaneous or concurrent death of tissue and replacement thereof by living elements |
nitidus | Latin adjective meaning gleaming, glistening, shiny |
nodose | Latin adjective meaning full of knots; a node (e.g. erythema nodosum, polyarteritis nodosa) |
-oid | (Greek) like or in the form of (-ode, odes, -oid, -oides) (amyloid) |
onychorrhexis: | means breakage (-rrhexus) of nail (onycho-) |
Ortho- | 1)straight, 2) normal |
-osus | (Latin adjectival ending) meaning full of, having the characteristics of |
Para- | 1) near, 2) abnormal |
Papillomatosis | a condition in which many papillomas grow on an area of skin; histologically = projections of the dermal papillae above the skin surface (e.g. in acanthosis nigricans) |
Pathergy | at the site of a needle puncture, a pustule surrounded by erythema may appear; seen in Behçet’s disease |
Pelade | used by the French speaking for “alopecia areata” |
perlèche | to lick (-èche), all around (per-) |
pernio | Latin meaning chilblain, frostbite, or congelation |
phakomatosis | literally the word means a condition (osis) resulting from tumor formation (-omat-) of the lens (phak-) of the eye. Used to designate genetic conditions that have both cutaneous and neuro-ectodermal, particularly intracranial and ocular, abnormalities. |
phyma | Greek word for swelling, mass, or bulb (e.g. rhinophyma) |
Pilaris | pertaining or related to hair |
Pityriasis | Greek pityron for bran |
plasma | the straw colored fluid in which the blood cells are suspended (compare with serum) |
Poikiloderma | a descriptive term of erythema with 4 features: hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation, atrophy, and telangiectasia |
profunda | (profundus) the feminine singular (and masculine singular ) of a Latin adjective meaning deep (e.g. lupus profundus) |
rupial | from greek ryphos, dirt, filth; The adjective particularly is used to describe lesions, especially of psoriasis and syphilis, that have an unusually dirty quality about them in the form of purulence and excessive scaling |
serum | the fluid that separates from clotted blood that is allowed to stand (i.e. plasma minus fibrinogen and other substances used up by coagulation) |
steroids | hormones with an intact cholesterol nucleus (e.g. estrogen) |
striatus | arranged in a stripe |
stye (hordeolum): a suppurative inflammation of a gland of the eye (more general than a “chalazion”)
sycosis | from Greek word elements that mean a figgy (syc-) conditions (-osis). What is meant is a follicular pyoderma consisting of lesions that to some ancient observer suggested small figs. This is one of the less apt names utilizing a familiar object. |
taches French word for a spot (ex. taches bleues)
tumefaction Latin: means the process of (-tion) making (-fac-) a swelling (tume-)
variegata mottled
vellus hair | the system of very fine, less visible hairs among a coarser, more obvious variety on an animal (lanugo hairs on humans constitute a vestigial vellus) |
Vermilion | a color; variously stated to be bright red or red-brown |
volar | palm of hand or sole of the foot |
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