▪ I. measle, n.
(ˈmiːz(ə)l)
Forms: 5 masyl, mazil, meselle, -ylle, 6 measel, meazell, 7 meazil, -le, 9 measle. pl. 4 maseles, 4–6 mesels, 5 meazeles, meseles, 6 maisils, massels, maysilles, meselles, 6–7 masels, measel(l)s, 7 maisels, mazels, measil(l)s, 7–8 meazels, -les, 7– measles.
[ME. maseles pl., cogn. w. OHG. (? and OS.) masala, occurring as gloss to L. flemen, i.e. phlegmon blood-blister (MHG. masel(e, MLG. masele, massele, MDu. masel fem., blood-blister, pustule, spot on the skin; also in pl. measles; mod.Du. mazelen measles); a related form occurs in MDu. and mod.G. masern pl., measles; for the Scandinavian forms see measlings. For other derivatives of the Teut. root *mas-, *mæ̂s-, expressing the notion of ‘spot’ or ‘excrescence’, see mazer.
It is possible that the word may have come into Eng. from continental LG. For its existence in OE. there is no other evidence than the occurrence, in a 12th c. MS., of mæslesceafe as a spelling of mælsceafa malshave. The phonetic development is irregular: normally the modern form should be *mazel (cf. hazel1, for which spellings like hesel, heasle occur in the 15–16th c.). That the dialectal form measle appears in literary English may be due to a mistaken association of this word with mesel leper; a similar confusion occurred in MHG., where maselsucht (etymologically ‘measles’) was often used for miselsucht leprosy.]
1. a. pl. (rarely sing.). A specific infectious disease of man (in medical Latin called Rubeola and Morbilli), characterized by an eruption of rose-coloured papulæ arranged in irregular circles and crescents, preceded and accompanied by catarrhal and febrile symptoms; it rarely attacks the same person twice. (Often referred to as one of the diseases incident to childhood, although it frequently attacks adults.) The plural form is now usually construed as a sing.
German measles (formerly also false measles, French measles, hybrid measles) measles: a contagious disease (Roseola epidemica or Rubella) distinct from measles, but resembling it in some of its symptoms.
| c 1325 Gloss W. de Bibbesw. (MS. Arundel 220) in Wright Voc. 161 Rugeroles, maseles [c 1300 MS. Camb. maselinges]. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 707/25 Hec serpedo, a mesylle. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 328/2 Masyl, or mazil, sekenesse. 1483 Cath. Angl. 237/1 A Meselle; serpedo. 1489 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) p. cxiv, At that season ther wer the Meazelles soo strong, & in especiall amongis Ladies & Gentilwemen, that sum died of that sikeness. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (? 1541) 80 b, Purpilles, measels, and small pockes. c 1560 Misogonus iii. iii. 49 (Brandl), I can cure the Agwe, the Massels and the french pocke. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. xvii. 27 It is good..against..the small Pockes and Meselles. 1601 Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) III. 813 Fumitory..is good against the meazels. 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 1248 From whence they start up chosen vessels, Made by contact, as men get measles. 1696 Lond. Gaz. No. 3224/3 The Princess of Piedmont is fallen ill of the Meazles. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. i. 250 The Small Pox, Meazles, and pestilential Fevers. 1802 Med. Jrnl. VIII. 28 The Measles usually makes its appearance at the commencement of the year. 1877 Roberts Handbk. Med. (ed. 3) I. 143 Measles is decidedly infectious. 1924 Galsworthy White Monkey i. iii. 21 Fleur knew how catching the word was; it would run like a measle round the ring. 1948 Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. 383 False singulars, made by back formation, are numerous, e.g.,..measle, nor are they confined to the untutored. |
| attrib. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xiv, The measles like eruption [of typhus fever] appeared about the fifth day. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 148 The rash for a time may be suggestive of Scarlet Fever, but sooner or later it usually conforms more to the measles type. |
b. pl. The pustules characteristic of this disease; † formerly sometimes applied to the pustules of eruptive diseases generally.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. ix. (1495) 870 Colour of skynne chaungyth for streyte contynuaunce of the skynne: as it fareth ofte in Mesels: Pockes: woundes: botches and brennynge. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 277/2 Others take a fether, and dippe it in the saide water, and therwith they annoynte all the Measells of the Face when they are come forth. 1685 Cooke's Mellif. Chirurg. vi. ii. ix. (ed. 4) 214 Those little Pustles in the skin, with a deep redness..are called Measles. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 241 About the sixth or seventh day from the time of sickening, the measles begin to turn pale on the face. |
¶ c. In exclamatory phrase. ? nonce-use.
| 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair iii. iv, Why the meazills, should you stand heere, with your traine [etc.]. |
2. a. pl. († formerly also sing.) A disease in swine, produced by the scolex of the tapeworm; in later use, a similar disease in other animals.
[This application of the word arose from a misinterpretation of the adj. mesel ‘leprous’ (see measle a.) as used to designate swine suffering from this disease.]
| 1587 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Hogges (1627) 273 Poultry dung, which also is ill for hogs, and will increase a measel among them. 1615 Latham Falconry (1633) 107 Such setled curnels like vnto the mazels of a swine. 1636 B. Jonson Discov. Wks. (1640) 93 The Swyne dyed of the Measils. 1793 A. Young Ann. Agric. XIX. 299 Is the small pox known among sheep? It is a little known, but not at all common.—Called the measles. 1844 Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 245 Pigs are subject to a cutaneous disease called measles, which is supposed to render the flesh unwholesome. |
b. The scolex or cysticercus which produces this disease. Also attrib. in measle-disease.
| 1863 Aitken Sci. & Pract. Med. (ed. 2) II. 94, 95 The first animal he experimented on died from a violent attack of the measle disease; and on dissection the muscles were found filled with measles, or imperfectly developed scolices. 1901 Osler Princ. & Pract. Med. (ed. 4) 367 The measles are more readily overlooked in beef than in pork, as they do not present such an opaque white colour. |
3. pl. ‘A disease of trees which causes the bark to become rough and irregular, and the branch finally to die’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.). Also sing. a blister or excrescence on a tree. ? Obs.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 539 Oliue..hath another greefe and sorance called in Latin Clavus, Fungus or Patella (i. a Knur, Puffe, Meazil or Blister). 1611 Florio, Chiauo, a meazell or blister growing on trees. 1674 J. Josselyn Voy. New Eng. 190 Their fruit-trees are subject to two diseases, the Meazels,..and lowsiness. 1679 Evelyn Sylva xxvii. (ed. 3) 141 Trees (especially Fruit-bearers) are infested with the Measels. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 392. |
4. pl. In Photography. Cf. measly a. 3.
| 1876 [see mealiness]. |
▪ II. † ˈmeasle, a. Obs.
Forms: 5–6 mesel, 6 masyl, meazel, messell(e, mesyl, mys(s)ell, 7 meazell, measle.
[A particular application of mesel a., leprous; the later spelling proceeds from association with measle n.]
Of swine, their flesh: Affected with ‘measles’, measly.
| [1398: see measled a.] c 1460 Towneley Myst. ii. 264 Yit teynd thou not thi mesel swyne? 1519 in Surtees Misc. (1888) 33 For sellyng messell pork xxd. 1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. xxviii. (1870) 195 Masyl baken, and sardyns, I do eate and sel. 1598 Kitchin Courts Leet, etc. (1675) 347 Where Meazel Porks are sold at Rumford. a 1652 Brome City Wit v. Wks. 1873 I. 363 The kell of a meazell hog. |
▪ III. measle, v.
(ˈmiːz(ə)l)
Also 7 meazel, meazle, mezle.
[f. measle n.]
1. trans. To infect with measles.
| 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Pied d'oison, Goose-foot, wild Orache; called also Swinesbane, because it kills, or meazels, the Swine which eat of it. a 1845 Hood Tale of Trumpet lv, Though the wishes that Witches utter Can..Send styes in the eye—and measle the pigs. 1890 Syd. Soc. Lex., Measle, to infect with measles. |
2. transf. To cover as with ‘measles’ or spots.
In quot. 1678 there is a reference to mesel n., leper.
| 1638 Wentworth 23 May in Strafforde Lett. (1739) II. 173, I was so damnably bitten with Midges, as my Face is all mezled over ever since. 1885 D. Ker in Libr. Mag. (U.S.) Sept. 219 A tall, sallow fellow, measled all over with brass buttons. |
| absol. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. i. 319 With Cow-itch meazle like a Leper. |
3. intr. To develop the eruption of measles. colloq.
| a 1906 Mod. ‘The child is measling nicely’. ‘The baby measled at the same time’ (Dr. W. Sykes). |
4. fig. To be full of or teem with (objectionable things). rare.
| 1856 C. Reade Never too Late II. xxv. 245 All this..in thieves' cant, with an oath or a nasty expression at every third word. The sentences measled with them. |