loimic

English

Etymology

Ancient Greek λοιμός (loimós) +‎ -ic

Adjective

loimic (not comparable)

1. (obsolete, medicine) Of or pertaining to the plague or contagious disorders. [19th c.]
   • 1821, Robert Willan, edited by Ashby Smith, Miscellaneous Works, T. Cadell, page 12:

     The title of this translation (περὶ λοιµικῆς) and its preface prove that the Small-pox had been known to the antient Greeks under the name of Loimiké (the loimic or pestilential disease) and even divided into two distinct species. (pp. 20, 21.)

   • 1823, The Medico-chirurgical Review and Journal of Medical Science, volume 3, Burgess and Hill, page 44:

     Galen has not left us any distinct history of Loimic diseases; but there are numerous scattered observations in his works respecting them— […]

   • 1851, Edward Bascome, A History of epidemic pestilences, John Churchill (publisher) John Churchill, page 18:

     Philo, the Jewish philosopher, gives a description of a ‘loimic’ pestilence which occurred during that century, and appositely conveys the mode of diffusion and the circumstances of the confluent small-pox.

   • 1867, S. J. Cassimati, The Greeks and Their Detractors, Clayton & Company, page 44:

     […] a euphemism, therefore, was needful to gild over and sweeten the surface of their hideous and poisonous essence, and none more emphatic than that of Abel, for the works of Cain, whose loimic virus has tinged even their admirer’s pen, and ever since shows him a cruel and sarcastic Mishellene, whereas he is as kind a Philhellene as any prejudiced mortal may be.

   • 1871, George Fleming, Animal Plagues: Their History, Nature, and Prevention, Chapman & Hall, page 26:

     A.D. 92. A loimic plague is described by the Jewish philosopher Philo, who believed it to have been caused by hot dust. ‘The clouds of dust suddenly falling on men and cattle, produced over the whole skin a severe and intractable ulceration. […] ’

References

• “loimic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.