▪ I. jaundice, n.
(ˈdʒɔːndɪs, ˈdʒɑːndɪs)
Forms: α. 4–6 iaunes, 4–5 iawnes, 4 iaunys, iaunyce, 9 dial. jaunis, -us. β. 4–7 iaund-, 5 iawnd-, 5–7 iand-, 6 gaund-, giaund-, 7–8 jand-, 4–6 -is, -ys, 5–6 -yes, -es, -yce, 6–7 -ies, -ise, eis, 7 -ize, 7– jaundice. γ. 5 iawndres; 6–7 iaun-, ian-, 7 (9 dial.) jaun-, janders.
[ME. a. F. jaunice, jaunisse, in 12th c. jalnice (Hatz.-Darm.), lit. ‘yellowness’, f. jalne, jaune yellow: see -ice1. The d in the form jaundice is a phonetic accretion as in astound, sound, thunder, etc. The ending of the word in -s led to its frequent treatment from the 15th c., and esp. in the 17th, as a plural in -yes, -ies, -ers, as in other plural names of diseases, cf. measles, mumps, glanders.]
1. A morbid condition caused by obstruction of the bile, and characterized by yellowness of the conjunctiva, skin, fluids, and tissues, and by constipation, loss of appetite, and weakness.
Three varieties (yellow, black, and green) are recognized and distinguished according to the colour of the skin in each case. Yellow vision, often referred to as a characteristic of this state, though the source of much literary allusion, occurs only in rare instances.
| α 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3980 Þe ye þat ys ful of Jawnes Alle þenkeþ hym ȝeloghe yn hys auys. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 700 Many yvels,..Als fevyr, dropsy, and Iaunys. 14.. in Rel. Ant. I. 51 For hym that is in the jaunes: tak wormot. 1483 Cath. Angl. 194/1 Iawnes, ubi gulsoghte. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health clxxviii. 63 In Englyshe it is named the iaunes, or the gulsuffe. 1825 Brockett, Jaunis, Jaunus. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., Jaunis, Jenis (N.), Jaanis (T.), Jonas (W.-T.) |
| β 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 113 A pestilence of þe ȝelowe yuel þat is i-cleped þe jaundys. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 258/1 Iawndyce, sekenesse, hicteria. 1494 Fabyan Chron. iii. lx. 39 Y⊇ yelowe euyl called the Iaundyes. a 1530 Heywood Love (Brandl) 1208 He is infecte with the blak iawndes. 1555 Eden Decades 121 The Spanyshe inhabitours are all pale and yelowe, like vnto them that haue the yelowe giaundyes. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 29 b/2 The liver vayn is phlebotomized agaynst the yellowe gaundise. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 2 What greefe hath set the Iaundies on your cheekes? 1656 Stanley Hist. Philos. I. iv. 4 To him that hath the yellow jaundies, all things seem yellow. 1693 Dryden Juvenal vi. (1697) 154 From him your Wife enquires the Planets Will, When the Black Jaundies shall her Mother kill. 1725 N. Robinson Th. Physick 162 After the fiftieth Year, a Jaundice happening upon a schirrous Liver or Spleen, always turns to the Black Jaundice, and kills the Patient. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 256 A very excellent Remedy in Jaundices and Dropsies. 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 448 Dr. Mosler has been led to try forced enemata in catarrhal and other jaundices. 1888 Poor Nellie 274 He had an attack of the jaundice. |
| γ 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 113 An infirmitie reignenge in Wales..was callede the iawndres [L. ictericia]. 1528 Paynell Salerne's Regim. 4 Whey is..holsome for them that haue the ianders. 1563–4 Randolph Let. to Cecil 15 Jan. in Calr. Scott. Pap. II. (1900) 34 Yellowe ganders. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 500 Very profitable against the yellow-jaunders. 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 712 A very malign Fever, which..is followed with the Jaunders. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Jaunders. 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss. s.v., The ‘black janders’ designates its more malignant form. |
b. Applied to other diseases in which the skin is discoloured or which resemble jaundice in some way, as white jaundice = chlorosis; blue jaundice = cyanosis.
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Chlorosis, a feminine disease, vulgarly called the green-sickness, white-jaundice, etc. 1855 Mayne Expos. Lex., Icterus Albus, White jaundice. 1887 Syd. Soc. Lex., Jaundice, blue, a synonym of Cyanosis. |
† 2. A disease of trees, in which there is discolouration of the leaves. Cf. icterus 1 b. Obs.
| 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 405 Trees that haue the iaundise, or else are otherwise any way sicke. 1664 Evelyn Sylva 69 Mice, Moles, and Pismires cause the Jaundies in Trees, known by the discolour of the Leaves and Buds. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 223 The Jaundies, or Langor of Trees. |
3. transf. and fig. In various phrases referring to the colour and reputed yellow or disordered vision of jaundiced persons.
| 1629 Symmer Spir. Posie i. i. 8 Envie hath the yellow Iaundies. 1663 Cowley Verses & Ess., Greatness (1669) 125 The Love of Gold, (That Jaundice of the Soul, Which makes it look so Guilded and so Foul). 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 73 And jealousie, the jaundice of the soul. 1700 ― Sigism. & Guisc. 542 These were thy thoughts, and thou couldst judge aright, Till interest made a jaundice in thy sight. 1825 Waterton Wand. S. Amer. iv. i. 298 He must be sorely afflicted with spleen and jaundice, who, on his arrival at Saratoga, remarks, there is nothing here worth coming to see. |
4. attrib. and comb., as jaundice colour, jaundice hue, etc.; jaundice-faced, jaundice-tinctured adjs.: jaundice-berry, -tree, the Barberry, Berberis vulgaris.
| 1598 E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 43 Their iaundice looks, and raine-bow like disclosed, Shall slander them with sicknes ere their time. 1607 T. Walkington Opt. Glass 160 Some iaundice-fac'd idiot. 1682 Creech Lucretius (1683) iv. 112 Whatever Jaundice-eyes do view, Look..as those, and yellow too. 1821 Clare Vill. Ministr. II. 132 The jaundice-tinctur'd primrose, sickly sere. 1858 Hogg Veg. Kingd. 34 The bark of the Berberry..is said..to have proved highly efficacious in the cure of jaundice; hence, in some parts of the country, we have heard the plant called the Jaundice Berry. 1887 Westm. Rev. June 281 Mr. Chamberlain's views of the Irish people have become suffused with a jaundice colour. |
▪ II. jaundice, v.
(ˈdʒɔːn-, ˈdʒɑːndɪs)
[app. a back-formation from jaundiced.]
1. trans. To affect with jaundice; usually fig. To affect with envy or jealousy; to tinge the views or judgement of.
| 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest v, Her perceptions were jaundiced by passion. 1867 O. W. Holmes Guard. Angel xxiv. (1891) 289 She..wanted to crush the young lady, and jaundice her mother, with a girl twice as brilliant. |
2. To tinge with yellow, to make yellow.
| 1892 Harper's Mag. June 104/1 The sulphur weighted and jaundiced the atmosphere. |