Etymology

hordeolum

H4O1R1D2E1O1L1U1M3

Today it means: stye, sty. An infection of a sebaceous gland of the eyelid. This is distinguished from a chalazion, which is not infected, but a cyst formed from an impacted meibomian gland of the eyelid. Full definition →

Latin hordeolus
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromhordeolus
  2. English todayhordeolum

Borrowed from Latin hordeolus, diminutive from hordeum (“barley”) + -olus, referring to its resemblance to a grain of barley in appearance and size.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.