key words

Question 1

anaesthetic

Answer 1

substance that removes pain

Question 2

anatomy

Answer 2

science of understanding the structure and internal organs of the body

Question 3

antibiotic

Answer 3

medications used to cure, and in some cases prevent, bacterial infections; they’re not effective against viruses such as the common cold

Question 4

aseptic

Answer 4

state of being completely free of harmful microbes; sterilising to create a contamination-free environment

Question 5

barber-surgeon

Answer 5

medieval barber who practiced surgery and dentistry

Question 6

bloodletting

Answer 6

medieval medical treatment of removing some blood from a patient by opening a vein or using leeches to suck it out

Question 7

bubonic plague

Answer 7

plague spread by the bite of a flea; buboes are lumps

Question 8

cauterisation

Answer 8

using a heated iron to stop bleeding and seal a wound

Question 9

cesspit

Answer 9

pit for the disposal of liquid waste and sewage

Question 10

epidemic

Answer 10

spread of a disease to a large number of people

Question 11

humours

Answer 11

the theory of the four humours is based on the idea that everything was made of the four elements of fire, wind, earth and water; and that elements exist as different liquids in the body

Question 12

inoculation

Answer 12

using weakened but live germs of a disease in a healthy person to build up an immunity (resistance) against the stronger form of the same disease

Question 13

lay people

Answer 13

ordinary people who were not monks or priests

Question 14

miasma

Answer 14

name given to what people thought was an ‘infectious mist’ given off by rotting animals, rubbish and human waste; many believed it caused illness and disease

Question 15

microbe

Answer 15

living organism that is too tiny to be seen without a microscope; includes bacteria, which can cause diseases

Question 16

pilgrimage

Answer 16

journey, of devotion or of moral significance, to visit a holy place

Question 17

pneumonic plague

Answer 17

plague spread by breathing in germs from the infected lungs of a bubonic plague victim

Question 18

public health

Answer 18

health of the population as a whole

Question 19

quarantine

Answer 19

confining or stopping people from going in or out of a place

Question 20

spontaneous generation

Answer 20

theory that microbes appear as if by magic, and that germs are the result of disease

Question 21

spore

Answer 21

cell or small organism that can grow into a new organism in the correct conditions

Question 22

trepanning

Answer 22

drilling holes in the head