Hordeolum
/hɔːrˈdiːələm/noun
A small, painful, inflamed lump on the eyelid, commonly called a stye.
Did you know?Roman medical writers used hordeolum as a diminutive of hordeum, comparing the eyelid swelling’s shape and size to a barley kernel rather than invoking magic or demonology.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵʰersd-
“A reconstructed root associated with bristles or awns, the stiff projections of barley grains”
Classical Latin
Latin
hordeum
“Barley”
Classical Latin
Latin
hordeolus
“Little barley; a diminutive form of hordeum”
Late Latin
Medical Latin
hordeolum
“A small barley-like swelling of the eyelid”
19th Century
English
hordeolum
“A medical term for an eyelid stye”
Modern English
English
hordeolum
“A stye or localized eyelid infection”
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