whitlow
(ˈhwɪtləʊ)
Forms: α. 4–7 whitflawe, 5 whytflowe, 5–6 whitflowe, 6 whyte flaw, white flaw, 6–7 whiteflaw(e, 7–8 whit(-)flaw, whit(-)flow, (8 dial. whick-, 8–9 quickflaw). β. 5 whytlowe, whyte low, 6 whitlowe, 7 whitelow, (whitloaf), 7–9 whitloe, 6– whitlow. γ. 6 whytblow, whitblowe, (whetblowe), whiteblowe, 6–7 whitblow.
[app. orig. whitflaw, -flow = white a. + flaw n.1 (q.v. sense 4); but the similarity of the first syllable to early mod.Du. vijt, fijt, LG. fît ‘whitlow’ is remarkable and suggests the possibility of alien origin. The alterations to whitblow, whitlow are difficult to account for. The supposition that the original form was whick-flaw, dial. var. of quickflaw (Skeat), is not supported by the evidence.]
A suppurative inflammatory sore or swelling in a finger or thumb, usually in the terminal joint; = paronychia 1 (cf. panaricium).
| α a 1400 Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 138 Paniritula uel paranicium, i. apostema inter digitos, a⊇. a whitflawe. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 42 Þe fistule bredyng in þe extremite of þe fynger deceyueþ sonner þe pacient þan in oþer places; ffor vnkunnyng seiþ þat it is þe whit⁓flowe, whiche þou shalt knowe þus. 1556 Withals Dict. (1562) 77 A whiteflaw, rediuia. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 25 b, The asshes [of wild grapes]..are good for medicines for the eyes, and wyth hony it healeth whit flawes, agnayles & goomes bledinge. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Oberon's Palace 59 The nails faln off by Whit-flawes. 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 340 A gold Ring does not cure a Whitflaw. 1746 Phil. Trans. XLIV. 228 Much used..in Cataplasms for the Fellon, or worst Kind of Whitflow. a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose, Whick-flaw. |
| β c 1440 Promp. Parv. 525/2 Whytlowe (P. whytflowe sore), panarucium. 1603 Breton Mad World (1635) B 8 b, Healing but a Whitloe on a Lords thumbe. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1049 A live Chislep laid to a whitloaf, cures it. 1669 W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 206 They are not certainly able to perform the cure of..so much..as a paronychia or whitlow. 1765 Sterne Tr. Shandy VII. xxi, A novice of the convent..had been troubled with a whitloe in her middle finger. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 337 Where the matter is lodged, as in some cases of whitloe, in the sheaths of the tendons. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxix. 371 A suppurating tumor resembling a whitlow. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 575 Painless whitlow affects the fingers of patients suffering from peripheral nerve disease of the upper extremities. |
| γ 1547 Boorde Brev. Health lvi. 17 A white blowe, or a whyte flaw, the whiche doth grow about the rote of the nayle. 1547 Salesbury Welsh Dict., Ewinor, a whetblowe. 1598 Florio, Panariccio, a fellon, a whitblowe, that comes on ones finger tops. |
b. attrib.:
whitlow-grass, book-name of two early-flowering plants with white blossoms, formerly reputed to cure whitlows (
cf. nailwort):
Saxifraga tridactylites, Rue-leaved Whitlow-grass, and
Draba (
Erophila)
verna (hence in
mod. use extended to the whole genus
Draba);
whitlow-wort, a plant of the genus
Paronychia, formerly reputed to cure whitlows.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. clxxxvi. 498 Of Whiteblowe, or Whitlowe grasse. Ibid. 499 Rewe leafed Whitlowe grasse. Jagged Whitlowe grasse. 1634 T. Johnson Merc. Bot. 57 Rue Whitlow-grasse. 1650 [W. Howe] Phytol. Brit. 88 Paronychia altera,..Rue Whitlow-grasse. Paronychia major,..Whitlow-wort... Paronychia vulgaris,..Chickweed Whitlow-grasse. 1785 Martyn Lett. Bot. ii. (1794) 31 Those whose seed vessel is a silicle..as whitlow-grass. 1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 143 D[raba] Verna. Common Whitlow Grass... D. Aizoides. Sen Green, or Alpine Whitlow Grass... D. Pyrenaica. Pyrenean Whitlow Grass. |