sweating sickness

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Sudor anglicanus, ephemera sudatoria, or ephemera maligna: a febrile epidemic disease, in some places extremely fatal, which made its appearance in England in August, 1485, and at different periods until 1551, and spread extensively on the Continent. It was characterized by profuse sweating, and was frequently fatal in a few hours. It seems to have resembled somewhat the later epidemics of miliary fever. Also called English sweat, sweating-fever.

Wiktionary

1. n. An unidentified, highly virulent disease with aches and sweating, the cause of a series of epidemics in England and Europe between 1485 and 1551.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. (Med.) a febrile epidemic disease which prevailed in some countries of Europe, but particularly in England, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, characterized by profuse sweating. Death often occured in a few hours.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a disease of cattle (especially calves)
2. n. epidemic in the 15th and 16th centuries and characterized by profuse sweating and high mortality