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poxy

poxy

9.9
A person who has smallpox
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : enfermo de viruela
  • In the past, hospitals treated many poxy patients who suffered from the disease.

Examples

  • She read about a poxy person living in the 18th century who had survived smallpox.

  • The town was once home to numerous poxy individuals during the smallpox outbreak.

  • Poxy.

Compounds

9.1

Unpleasant wet and cold weather that makes you feel miserable

Surface Forms

poxy singular
poxies plural

Morphology

poxy = pox (transparent) = pox + y

The noun meaning 'a person suffering from smallpox' is a straightforward nominal use of the adjectival/derivative form 'pox'+'-y'.

Etymology

Poxy as a noun comes from pox and once meant 'a person with pox', that is, someone suffering from smallpox, which is why old texts call a sick person a poxy.