Meanings
- archaicuncountablescrofula
Suppose the person the matter is taken from, has the king's evil, the pox, madness, or some other inveterate disease — I am sure the inoculator can give no reason why it should not convey one distemper as well as the other.
1806, Robert Willan, On vaccine inoculation
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna form of tuberculosis characterized by swellings of the lymphatic glands
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From a popular belief that the King could cure the disease by touching the sufferer.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
king's evil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/king's%20evil
“king's evil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/king's%20evil. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “king's evil,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/king's%20evil.
Source: king's evil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.