shingles
/ˈʃɪŋɡ(ə)lz
/plural noun [treated as singular] Medicine
A painful acute inflammation of the nerve ganglia, with a skin eruption often forming a girdle around the middle of the body. It is caused by the same virus as chickenpox. Also called herpes zoster.Doug's symptoms might also have been caused by herpes zoster or shingles virus which can also affect the facial nerve....
- The medical name for chickenpox is varicella zoster and for shingles it is herpes zoster.
- If you've ever had chicken pox, you may suffer from shingles or herpes zoster.
Origin
Late Middle English: representing medieval Latin cingulus, variant of Latin cingulum 'girdle', from cingere 'gird'.