Acne: Etymology of the Term

Abstract

Acne is a term commonly used to refer to a dermatological disease characterized by lesions on the skin of different sizes and characteristics, which occur when the hair follicles are clogged with fat, producing the death of skin cells. There are many opinions related to the etymological origin of the term. However, this scientific article aims to explain the etymology of the word acne from various perspectives and opinions that date from different times, cultures and environments. This is a documentary study and critical that involves deep investigation of the origin of the term “acne”, dictionaries etymological and their comments, as well as, in the opinion of researchers, historians and commentators; which provide historical information about the origin of the word in question. The analysis shows that, over time, acne comes from the French acne, in turn from the neolatin acne; and it is also an erroneous transcription of the classical Greek word ἀκμή or akmé (top). On the other hand, the etymology of the ancient Greek word ἄχνη or ákhne (foam), completely lacks acceptance, due to the transcription error in the work of the physician Aetius of Amida. It is concluded that, to the confusion in the use of the correct term, today it is not convenient to fix acne by acmé, as the term acmé already exists in the medical vocabulary to refer to the culminating phase of a disease in which the symptoms occur with greater intensity. Therefore, it is appropriate to accept the term aknás as the origin of modern acne.