quinsy
(ˈkwɪnzɪ)
Forms: α. 4 qwinaci, quinesye, 5 queynose. β. 5 quynsy, qwynse, 5–6 quynce, 6 quency, 6 quinsye, 7 -se, -cy, 8 -sie, 6–9 quinsey, (8 -zey), 6– quinsy. γ. 6 quynnancy, quinancie, 6, 9 -cy.
[ad. med.L. quinancia, f. Gr. κυνάγχη cynanche, perh. as a refashioning of the commoner squinancia, whence the current Romanic forms, and Engl. squinacy (13th c.), -ancy, squinsy.]
Inflammation of the throat or parts of the throat; suppuration of the tonsils; tonsillitis. Also, a form or attack of this.
| α 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 164 Men called þat vuel Comuynli, Þat he hedde the Qwinaci. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 791/9 Hec squ[in]acia, a queynose. a 1450 ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 215 Ferst lete hym blod..to rype þe quinesye. |
| β 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 587/32 Gutturna, Quynsy. 14.. Nominale ibid. 709/1 The qwynse. 1493 Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 95 b, On a tyme he was nere deed of the quency. 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1246/1 He collereth them by the neck with a quinsye. 1570 B. Googe Pop. Kingd. iii. 38 b, Blase driues away the quinsey quight, with water sanctifide. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 102 A famous medicine in Quinses, sore throats, and strangulations. 1753 Richardson Grandison (1781) II. xvi. 167 She tried to swallow, as one in a quinsey. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. lvii. 221 An alarming attack of the quinsey or putrid sore throat. 1892 Daily News 6 Oct. 5/3 Since the gout left his throat the patient has had three quinsies. |
| γ 1530 Palsgr. 182 Les escrovelles, a disease called the quynnancy or the kynges yvell. 1587 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Horses (1627) 125 The quinancy is an ill sorenesse..in the throat of the horse. |
b. Comb., as
quinsy-berry, the black currant
Ribes nigrum (
Treas. Bot. 1866);
quinsy-wort, the small woodruff (
Asperula cynanchica).
| 1846 Sowerby Brit. Bot. (ed. 3), Quinsey wort. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. III. 159 Its specific name..as well as its English name of Quinsey-wort or Quinancy-wort, refer to its ancient uses in disorders of the throat. |
Hence
ˈquinsied a., afflicted with quinsy.
| 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 178 Drips from their nostrils sable blood, And presses quinsied jaws a furry tongue. |