‖ smegma Phys.
(ˈsmɛgmə)
[L. smēgma, a. Gr. σµῆγµα a detergent, soap, or unguent, f. σµήχειν: cf. smectic a.]
A sebaceous secretion, esp. that found under the prepuce.
Phillips (ed. Kersey), Bailey, etc., give ‘Smegma, soap, or any thing that scours; a wash-ball’, but there is no evidence that the word was ever current in English in these senses.
| 1819 Pantologia X, Smegma,..soap; any concrete substance resembling it, as the hardened matter often found, in the morning, on the lachrymal caruncle. 1876 Duhring Dis. Skin 108 In the newly-born infant, the smegma serves a valuable physiological function. 1899 tr. Jaksch's Clin. Diagnosis viii. (ed. 4) 407 The microbe of smegma readily loses its colour under the action of that substance. |