king's evil

noun

1. scrofula: so called because it was supposed to be curable by the touch of the reigning sovereign.

king's evil

noun

1. the king's evil
   pathol a former name for scrofula

Word History and Origins

Origin of king's evil¹

1350–1400; Middle English kynges evel

Word History and Origins

Origin of king's evil¹

C14: from the belief that the king's touch would heal scrofula

Example Sentences

Stephen King’s evil clown Pennywise returns in the full trailer for this year’s big screen adaptation of It.

From The Guardian

Just to add difficulty to her next run as president, she decides to cultivate several Very Serious Medical Ailments, including but not limited to at least eight strokes, dropsy and the King’s Evil.

From Washington Post

Among the terrible losses from infant and childhood diseases and such exotic illnesses as “the rising of lights” and “the King’s evil,” we find that, of 9,535 deaths, 13 people succumbed to “planet,” more than died of cancer.

From Literature

Notices the analogies between our moral and æsthetical judgments, 77 King's evil, ceremony of touching for the, i.

From Project Gutenberg

One of the charges made against him on his trial at Edinburgh for high treason, was, that he had “touched children of the King’s Evil.”

From Project Gutenberg