acne vulgaris
1
4.1
- noun
- /ˈækni ˈvʌlɡərɪs/
- Specialized
:
acné vulgar
- These included very common diseases, such as acne vulgaris and verruca vulgaris, as well as now rarely diagnosed diseases, such as lupus vulgaris.
Examples
-
Many teenagers experience acne vulgaris as they go through puberty.
-
Acne vulgaris is a common skin condition that leads to scarring and psychological morbidity.
Academic text (2007) -
Acne vulgaris is an inflammatory disease of the skin, affecting a large percentage of people, especially during puberty.
Academic text (2007) -
M.N., as he was known in the medical literature, was a middle-aged Latin man badly scarred by multiple lesions of acne vulgaris that continued to erupt long after adolescence.
Fiction book (2000) -
Doctors often prescribe topical treatments for acne vulgaris to help reduce outbreaks.
-
She was concerned about her acne vulgaris and sought advice from a dermatologist.
Synonyms
54
2.3
A skin condition that causes pimples and blackheads, often on the face, chest, and back
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositional: 'acne' names the skin condition and the epithet 'vulgaris' means 'common' or 'typical', so the combined form literally denotes the common form of acne. This medical/Latin epithet pattern is regular in terminology and thus a learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The medical term acne vulgaris comes from older words: acne meant a small 'point' or 'spot' on the skin, and vulgaris meant 'common' in Latin. So the name literally means 'common spots', which explains why it refers to the usual kind of pimples many teenagers get.