ringworm - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Noun
ringworm (usually uncountable, plural ringworms)
- A contagious fungal infection of the skin, characterized by ring-shaped discolored patches, covered by vesicles or scales.
- ✤ In superficial mycoses infection is localised to the skin, the hair, and the nails. An example is ringworm or tinea, an infection of the skin by a dermatophyte.
- ✤ Many of these natives, especially the lower classes, and fishermen, have their skins disfigured in a singular manner, by a sort of scurfy disease, similar to the ring-worm, or rather to a person whose skin was peeling off from the effects of the sun.1
Etymology
From Middle English ringworm (“ringworm; intestinal worm”), from Old English rengwyrm (“maw-worm, intestinal worm”), equivalent to ring + worm.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA: /ˈɹɪŋˌwɝm/
- Audio (Southern England): 🔊
Printed 2026-08-22.
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Footnotes
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1848 December, “Pacific Ocean: The Island of Bornabi”, in The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle, volume 17, number 12, page 647: ↩