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Webster 1913 Edition

Symptom

Symp′tom

,
Noun.
[F.
symptôme
, Gr. [GREEK] anything that has befallen one, a chance, causality, symptom, fr. [GREEK] to fall together;
σύν
with + [GREEK] to fall; akin to Skr.
pat
to fly, to fall. See
Syn-
, and cf.
Asymptote
,
Feather
.]
1.
(Med.)
Any affection which accompanies disease; a perceptible change in the body or its functions, which indicates disease, or the kind or phases of disease;
as, the causes of disease often lie beyond our sight, but we learn their nature by the
symptoms
exhibited
.
Like the sick man, we are expiring with all sorts of good
symptoms
.
Swift.
2.
A sign or token; that which indicates the existence of something else;
as, corruption in elections is a
symptom
of the decay of public virtue
.
Syn. – Mark; note; sign; token; indication.

Webster 1828 Edition

Symptom

SYMP'TOM

,
Noun.
[Gr. a falling or accident, to fall.]
1.
Properly, something that happens in concurrence with another thing, as an attendant. Hence in medicine, any affection which accompanies disease; a perceptible change in the body or its functions, which indicates disease. The causes of disease often lie beyond our sight, but we learn the nature of them by the symptoms. Particular symptoms which more uniformly accompany a morbid state of the body,and are characteristic of it, are called pathognomonic or diagnostic symptoms.
2.
A sign or token; that which indicates the existence of something else; as, open murmurs of the people are a symptom of disaffection to law or government.

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