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Definition of yellow sickness in English:

yellow sickness

noun

rare

  • 1Jaundice.

  • 2An infectious disease with a high mortality rate occurring in sporadic epidemics, especially in Wales, England, and Ireland in the 6th and 7th centuries; = yellow plague ; historical.

  • 3A disease of hyacinths characterized by the development of dark spots and stripes on the foliage, followed by yellowing, caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. hyacinthi.

Origin

Mid 16th century; earliest use found in William Turner (d. 1568), naturalist and religious controversialist.