Przymiot albo dworska niemoc i jej synonimiczne miana w polszczyźnie XV i XVI wieku

Abstract

The following cultural-linguistic description concerns the terms functioning in the Polish language of the 15th and 16th century that were used to denote a disease which was unknown at that time, at the threshold of the Renaissance spreading epidemically in all Europe, namely syphilis. These terms, which constitute a rather extensive synonymic chain, have been excerpted from 16th-century dictionaries and glossaries of general language, as well as from specialized works: books on herbal remedies and herbarium, handbooks for healthy living, as well as scientific and medical treatises. A review of those terms is conducted through the onomasiological nomination approach and is aimed at recognizing the original motivating trait underlying particular names, which essentially leads to the explanation why this disease was called in such a way, why it received its term.