Phys. [L. smēgma, a. Gr. σμῆγμα a detergent, soap or unguent, f. σμήχειν: cf. SMECTIC a.] A sebaceous secretion, esp. that found under the prepuce.
Phillips (ed. Kersey), Bailey, etc., give ‘Smegma, soap, or any thing that scours; a wash-ball,’ but there is no evidence that the word was ever current in English in these senses.
1819. Pantologia, X. Smegma,… soap; any concrete substance resembling it, as the hardened matter often found, in the morning, on the lachrymal caruncle.
1876. Duhring, Dis. Skin, 108. In the newly-born infant, for example, the smegma serves a valuable physiological function.
1899. trans. Jaksch’s Clin. Diagnosis, viii. (ed. 4), 407. The microbe of smegma readily loses its colour under the action of that substance.
