[ad. L. fūruncul-us, orig. ‘little thief,’ dim. of fūr. Cf. F. furoncle FRONCLE.] A boil or inflammatory tumor.
1676. Wiseman Chirurg. Treat., I. vii. 43. A Gentleman near seventy years old was sorely afflicted with a Furuncle within his Nostrills, and about his Nose with great Inflammation and hardness.
1743. trans. Heister’s Surg., 195. A Boil or Furuncle is a small resisting Tumor.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., II. xx. 204. I had relieved her from much suffering by opening a furuncle.
1872. T. G. Thomas, Dis. Women, 105. The peculiar blood state which results in the development of furuncles and carbuncles.
