erythema nodosum
- noun
- /ˌɛrɪˈθimə ˈnoʊdəsəm/
- Specialized
:
eritema nodoso
- Erythema nodosum causes painful red bumps to develop on the shins.
Examples
-
After the infection, she noticed erythema nodosum on her legs.
-
Doctors often diagnose erythema nodosum through skin examination.
-
Erythema nodosum is the most common dermatologic complication in sarcoidosis, but special mention should be made of the chronic violaceous lesion known as lupus pernio.
Academic text (1998)
How Painful
Surface Forms
Morphology
erythema + nodosum
The phrase transparently combines 'erythema' (redness) with 'nodosum' (Latin-derived form meaning 'nodular' or 'with nodules'), so the compound literally denotes redness with nodules — i.e., tender red nodules on the legs. Although 'nodosum' is a Latin/medical form not common in everyday English, if a learner knows both constituents the overall meaning is directly derivable; medical vocabulary of this type is also cross-linguistically recognizable.
Etymology
Erythema nodosum comes from old Greek and Latin words that give a clear picture: erythema means 'redness' and nodosum means 'full of knots', so imagine red, knot-like lumps under the skin. That's why the term describes painful red nodules, usually on the shins, often after an infection.