Saint Anthony's fire
- noun
- /seɪnt ˈænθəniz faɪər/
- Archaic
:
fuego de San Antonio
- In medieval Europe, Saint Anthony's fire caused widespread suffering due to contaminated rye.
Examples
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In medieval times, Saint Anthony's fire was often fatal.
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Historical records describe Saint Anthony's fire as a mysterious and terrifying skin disease.
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The villagers feared Saint Anthony's fire whenever crops were tainted by ergot fungus.
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Many people feared Saint Anthony's fire due to its severity.
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In the Middle Ages, many people suffered from Saint Anthony's fire, which caused painful skin infections.
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Due to the outbreak of Saint Anthony's fire, the village sought help from local healers to treat the afflicted.
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At the museum, we learned how Saint Anthony's fire was treated with herbal remedies in ancient times.
Synonyms
5
3.3
A problem that affects the skin, causing redness or itching
Surface Forms
Morphology
saint + Anthony's + fire
Although the noun 'fire' gives a partial cue (suggesting burning or inflammation), the reference to 'Saint Anthony' is a cultural-historical label that does not make the precise medical meaning (ergotism, erysipelas, shingles) predictable. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words might guess something involving burning but would not reliably infer the specific historical skin diseases, so the expression is only partly transparent.
Etymology
Saint Anthony's fire may come from two clear images: the strong burning pain in the skin, which gave the fire part of the name, and Saint Anthony, whose monks cared for people with the illness. So the phrase came to mean very painful skin diseases that felt like they were on fire.