Meanings
plural jaundices · alternative obsolete jaundies
- countableuncountablemedicineA morbid condition, characterized by yellowness of the eyes, skin, and urine.First known use early 14th c.
Just ask the doctors how many cases of infantile jaundice in newborn babies have this scene that particular week?
2016, Dueep Jyot Singh, John Davidson, Knowing More About Jaundice - Prevention and Natural Cure Remedies of Jaundice, Mendon Cottage Books, →ISBN, page 83 more examples
Why ſhould a man whoſe bloud is warme within, / Sit like his Grandſire, cut in Alabaſter? / Sleepe when he wakes? and creep into the Iaundies / By being peeuiſh?
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 163But look in this new mirror, lovely friend. / Both gods and fairies wait on lovers' wills. / That jaundices be changed to daffodils!
1920, Natalie Clifford Barney, “A Sonnet to My Lady with the Jaundice”, in Poems & poèmesIn British folk medicine there are some unusual remedies for jaundice. A bizarre superstition from Staffordshire is that if a bladder is filled with the patient's urine and placed near the fire, as it dries out, the patient will recover (Black 1883: 56).
2004, Gabrielle Hatfield, Encyclopedia of Folk Medicine: Old World and New World Traditions, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 215Synonyms: icterus
- countablefigurativelyuncountableA feeling of bitterness, resentment or jealousy.First known use 1620s
No, sir, he, / Vex'd with a morbid devil in his blood / That veil'd the world with jaundice, hid his face / From all men, and commercing with himself, / He lost the sense that handles daily life— […]
1842, Alfred Tennyson, “Walking to the Mail”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 48
present singular third person jaundices · participle present jaundicing · participle past jaundiced · past jaundiced · alternative obsolete jaundies
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA morbid condition, characterized by yellowness of the eyes, skin, and urine.
More synonyms by meaning
nounyellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes caused by an accumulation of bile pigment (bilirubin) in the blood; can be a symptom of gallstones or liver infection or anemia
nouna rough and bitter manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latingalbinus“yellowish”
- Old Frenchjalne
- Middle Frenchjaunisse
- Middle Englishjaundis
- Englishjaundice
From Middle English jaundis, jaunis, from Middle French jaunisse, from jaune (“yellow”) + -isse (“-ness”). Jaune, from Old French jalne, from Latin galbinus (“yellowish”), from galbus (“yellow”).
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἴκτερος
- ἴκτερος (íkteros)morbid condition
Arabic صُفَار, يَرَقَان
- صُفَار (ṣufār)morbid condition
- يَرَقَان (yaraqān)morbid condition
Bulgarian жълтеница
- жълтеница (žăltenica)morbid condition
Catalan icterícia
- icteríciamorbid condition
Chinese Mandarin 黃疸 /黄疸, 黃疸病 /黄疸病
- 黃疸 /黄疸 (huángdǎn)morbid condition
- 黃疸病 /黄疸病 (huángdǎnbìng)morbid condition
- 使……產生偏見 /使……产生偏见 (shǐ... chǎnshēng piānjiàn)affect with jaundice; prejudice
Czech žloutenka
- žloutenkamorbid condition
Danish gulsot
- gulsotmorbid condition
Dutch geelzucht, (2)wrok
- geelzuchtmorbid condition
- (2)wrokmorbid condition
- afgunstmorbid condition
Esperanto iktero
- ikteromorbid condition
Finnish keltaisuus, keltatauti
- keltaisuusmorbid condition
- keltatautimorbid condition
- ikterusmorbid condition
- sairastaa keltatautiaaffect with jaundice; prejudice
- mennä vihreäksi kateudestaaffect with jaundice; prejudice
French jaunisse, en faire une jaunisse
- jaunissemorbid condition
- en faire une jaunisseaffect with jaundice; prejudice
German Gelbsucht, Ikterus
- Gelbsuchtmorbid condition
- Ikterusmorbid condition
- sich verfärbenaffect with jaundice; prejudice
- rot anlaufenaffect with jaundice; prejudice
Greek ίκτερος
- ίκτερος (íkteros)morbid condition
Hebrew צהבת
- צהבת (tzahevet)morbid condition
Hindi पीलिया
- पीलिया (pīliyā)morbid condition
Hungarian sárgaság
- sárgaságmorbid condition
Icelandic gula
- gulamorbid condition
Indonesian sakit kuning
- sakit kuningmorbid condition
Irish buíocháin
- buíocháinmorbid condition
Italian itterizia, ittero
- itteriziamorbid condition
- itteromorbid condition
Japanese 黄疸
- 黄疸 (ōdan)morbid condition
Korean 황달
- 황달 (hwangdal)morbid condition
Latin aurūgō
- aurūgōmorbid condition
Lithuanian gelta
- geltamorbid condition
Māori mate kōwhai
- mate kōwhaimorbid condition
Norwegian gulsott
- gulsottmorbid condition
Persian یرقان
- یرقان (yaraqân)morbid condition
Polish żółtaczka
- żółtaczkamorbid condition
Portuguese icterícia, trisa
- icteríciamorbid condition
- trisamorbid condition
- amarelãomorbid condition
Romanian gălbinare, gălbenare
- gălbinaremorbid condition
- gălbenaremorbid condition
- ictermorbid condition
Russian желту́ха
- желту́ха (želtúxa)morbid condition
Scottish Gaelic buidheach
- buidheachmorbid condition
Slovak žltačka
- žltačkamorbid condition
Spanish ictericia
- ictericiamorbid condition
Swedish gulsot, ikterus
- gulsotmorbid condition
- ikterusmorbid condition
Tagalog pamumunglo, mamunglo
- pamumunglomorbid condition
- mamungloaffect with jaundice; prejudice
Tamil காமாலை, மஞ்சள் காமாலை
- காமாலை (kāmālai)morbid condition
- மஞ்சள் காமாலை (mañcaḷ kāmālai)morbid condition
Thai ดีซ่าน
- ดีซ่าน (dii-sâan)affect with jaundice; prejudice
Turkish sarılık
- sarılıkmorbid condition
Ukrainian жовтяниця
- жовтяниця (žovtjanycja)morbid condition
Vietnamese vàng da, hoàng đản
- vàng damorbid condition
- hoàng đảnmorbid condition
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
jaundice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jaundice
“jaundice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jaundice. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jaundice,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jaundice.
Source: jaundice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.