My wife mentioned this a week ago to friends at dinner.

She asked our friends, who are from Texas, whether they had ever heard the word.

They said that they had not.

I was sure that I had heard the word. I cannot say whether I first heard it from her, but I probably did.

She said that she learned the noun when she lived in England.

I like the sound of the word, so I had to learn more about it.

The word dates back to the mid-1500s, is usually pluralized, and means an inflammation of the feet and hands due to exposure to moisture and cold.

My wife told us that it was a very common condition in England, where it is often cold and damp, and that the condition is extremely painful.

This noun comes from the combination of the noun “chill” and the noun “blain”.

The word “blain” — which confuses the spelling checker that I am using while I type this — comes from the Old English word blegen, which apparently originated before the year 1000. Now THAT is old!

The noun “blain” means an inflammatory sore or swelling, which makes it easy to remember what a “chilblain” is.

My wife remembers chilblains as the pain and blistering caused by rewarming oneself too quickly in front of a fire after being out in the cold and dampness of London, which describes the condition well.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “Tissue damage is less severe with chilblains than with frostbite, where the skin is actually frozen. Red, itching papules and patches of eroded tissue appear on the skin, which is cold and clammy to the touch; severe chilblains may blister and swell. The condition is aggravated by warmth, and sudden rewarming is not recommended. The preferred treatment is to elevate the affected part and allow it to warm gradually at room temperature.”

It is much more common in the U.S. to hear about frostbite than to hear about chilblains.

But now that you know — or have been reminded — about chilblains, consider yourself warned about them, too!

Happy thawing!