Meanings
- uncountablemedicineAn infectious viral disease characterised by fever and chest pain.
In medical circles, the name of Bornholm is linked incongruously to a viral infection called epidemic pleurodynia, otherwise known as the ‘Devil's Grip’, the ‘Grasp of the Phantom’ or, more prosaically, Bornholm disease.
2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, published 2012, page 88Synonyms: Bamble disease, epidemic myalgia, epidemic pleurodynia, pleurodynia
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn infectious viral disease characterised by fever and chest pain.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan acute infectious disease occurring in epidemic form and featuring paroxysms of pain (usually in the chest)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Because early cases were recorded on the island of Bornholm.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Bornholm disease. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bornholm%20disease
“Bornholm disease.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bornholm%20disease. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Bornholm disease,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bornholm%20disease.
Source: Bornholm disease on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.