chilblain

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 10, 2013 is: chilblain • \CHIL-blayn\  • noun : an inflammatory swelling or sore caused by exposure (as of the feet or hands) to cold Examples: "The damp cold there goes bone deep, and chilblains are a threat…." - From an article by Guy Trebay in The New York Times, January 16, 2011 "Nature gives us scurvy, rickets, buckteeth and chilblains. That's on a good day." - From an article by Gina Barreca in the Hartford Courant (Connecticut), May 3, 2013 Did you know? Given that chilblains are caused by exposure to cold conditions, it may not surprise you to know that the first element of this word comes from the noun "chill." The second element, "blain," may be less familiar, though the word "blain" ("an inflammatory swelling or sore") is still used by English speakers. Both elements of "chilblain" have Anglo-Saxon roots. "Chill" comes from Old English "ciele" ("frost" or "chill"), which is akin to "ceald," an Old English ancestor of the modern "cold." "Blain" comes from Old English "blegen" (same meaning as "blain"). These two words were first brought together (as the compound "chyll blayne") in the 1500s. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.