‖ herpes
(ˈhɜːpiːz)
Also 7 hirpes, 8 harpes.
[L., a. Gr. ἕρπης (ἑρπητ-) shingles, lit. a creeping, f. ἕρπειν to creep.]
1. a. A disease of the skin (or sometimes of a mucous membrane) characterized by the appearance of patches of distinct vesicles. (Applied widely to a number of cutaneous affections.) Now recognized as a group of virus diseases, the chief of which are herpes ˈsimplex, ordinary or ‘simple’ herpes (as contrasted with herpes zoster), distinguished as herpes facialis, herpes genitalis, herpes labialis, etc., according to the part of the body affected, and caused by Herpesvirus hominis; herpes ˈzoster, shingles, caused by H. varicellæ.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. lxi. (1495) 277 This euyll is callyd Herpes. Ibid. lxiii. 278 Suche a scabbe highte Herpes Cingula. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 111 The herbe fyue leue..stayeth and holdeth back crepinge sores called Herpetas. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 391 Any sore that runneth on still and corrode as it goeth. [margin] Which also is called Herpes: as the shingles, wilde fire, and wolfe. 1643 J. Steer tr. Exper. Chyrurg. v. 14 Hirpes or wild fire had invaded his whole legge. 1771 Mackenzie in Phil. Trans. LXII. 17 A gentleman's son..with a herpes round the neck, which had proved extremely obstinate. 1807 Morris & Kendrick Edin. Med. & Physical Dict. II, Herpes zoster. 1813 T. Bateman Pract. Synopsis Cutaneous Dis. vi. 233 The Herpes labialis..occurs most frequently in the course of diseases of the viscera. 1842 T. H. Burgess Man. Dis. Skin 81 The formation of vesicles in groups upon an inflamed base, is always sufficient to distinguish herpes from other vesicular affections. 1886 Fagge & Pye-Smith Princ. & Pract. Med. II. 670 His [sc. Willan's] species of herpes included (1) Herpes zoster or zona... (2) Herpes circinatus, which..is now classed with Tineæ. 1907 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 2 Mar. 746/2 (heading) The nature of herpes simplex. Ibid. 750/1 Herpes zoster and herpes simplex—both facial and genital varieties—while not clinically identical, are closely related. Ibid. 749/2 Another form of simple herpes..is herpes genitalis. 1946 G. C. Andrews Dis. Skin (ed. 3) xx. 537 Certain types of herpes zoster have received descriptive terms, the more important of which is herpes zoster frontalis, which is an involvement of the area supplied by the upper branches of the trigeminal nerve. 1962 Lancet 13 Jan. 105/1, I have often been impressed by the frequent association of herpes zoster with stress and anxiety, especially in the elderly. 1967 A. C. Allen Skin (ed. 2) viii. 335/2 Herpes simplex (fever blisters, cold sores, herpes facialis, herpes labialis) is..a mild, although recurrent, eruption. |
b. herpes virus (also as one word), any of a group of related viruses that includes those causing shingles and chicken-pox, esp. Herpesvirus hominis, the cause of herpes simplex.
| 1925 Amer. Jrnl. Path. I. 337 (heading) Studies on filterable viruses... Cultivation of herpes virus. Ibid., We have used herpes virus and a note on the cultivation of this virus is given below. 1955 Sci. Amer. May 33/1 The benign but recurrent lesions known as fever blisters or cold sores, caused by the herpes virus. 1968 A. Rook et al. Textbk. Dermatol. I. xxiv. 763/2 The particles of herpesvirus are first found in the nucleus and later appear in the cytoplasm from which the virus is gradually released with destruction of the cell. |
2. Entom. A genus of Coleoptera of the family Curculionidæ (weevils).