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pruritus vulvae

pruritus vulvae

9.9
Itching on the outside of a woman's private parts
  • noun
  • /pruˈraɪtəs ˈvʌlvi/
  • Specialized
translation icon : prurito vulvar
  • Many women experience pruritus vulvae during pregnancy due to hormonal changes.

Examples

  • Treatment for pruritus vulvae usually involves identifying and addressing the underlying cause.

  • This time she had an extensive rash, excoriation, and pruritus vulvae.

    Academic text (2007)
  • A doctor will often ask if you have pruritus vulvae to understand any genital discomfort.

How Itchy

pruritus vulvae
  • Specialized
9.9
vulvovaginitis
  • Specialized
8.8

Surface Forms

Morphology

pruritus + vulvae

The term is fully compositional: 'pruritus' denotes an urge to scratch/itching and 'vulvae' refers to the vulva, so together they mean itching of the vulva. Although the phrase uses Latin medical terminology and a genitive/inflected form, the semantic contribution of each constituent is direct, so a learner who knows both words would be able to derive the meaning.

Etymology

Pruritus vulvae comes from Latin words: pruritus meaning 'itch' and vulvae meaning 'vulva', the outer female genital area. So the term simply means 'itching of the vulva' and today it is used for long-lasting itching in that area.