Oxford Dictionary of Medical Quotations

How to Use the Dictionary

The sequence of entries is by alphabetical order of author, usually by surname but with

occasional exceptions such as imperial or royal titles, authors known by a pseudonym

(‘Zeta’) or a nickname (Caligula). In general authors’ names are given in the form by

which they are best known, so we have Mark Twain (not Samuel L. Clemens), and T. S.

Eliot (not Thomas Stearns Eliot). Collections such as Anonymous, the Bible, the Book of

Common Prayer, and so forth, are included in the alphabetical sequence.

Within each author entry, quotations are arranged by alphabetical order of the titles of

the works from which they are taken: books, plays, poems. These titles are given in italic

type; titles of pieces which comprise part of a published volume or collection (e.g. essays,

short stories, poems not published as volumes in their own right) are given in roman type

inside inverted commas. For example, Sweeney Agonistes, but ‘Fragmert of an Agon’; often

the two forms will be found together.

All numbers in source references are given in arabic numerals, with the exception of

lower-case roman numerals denoting quotations from prefatory matter, whose page num-

bering is separate from that of the main text. The numbering itself relates to the beginning

of the quotation, whether or not it runs on to another stanza or page in the original.

Where possible, chapter numbers have been offered for prose works, since pagination

varies from one edition to another. In very long prose works with minimal subdivisions,

attempts have been made to provide page references to specified editions.

A date in brackets indicates first publication in volume form of the work cited. Unless

otherwise stated, the dates thus offered are intended as chronological guides only and do

not necessarily indicate the date of the text cited; where the latter is of significance, this

has been stated. Where neither date of publication nor of composition is known, an

approximate date (e.g. ‘c.1625’) indicates the likely date of composition. Where there is a

large discrepancy between date of composition (or performance) and of publication, in

most cases the former only has been given (e.g. ‘written 1725’, ‘performed 1622’).

Spellings have been Anglicized and modernized except in those cases, such as ballads,

where this would have been inappropriate; capitalization has been retained only for per-

sonifications; with rare exceptions, verse has been aligned with the left hand margin. Italic

type has been used for all foreign-language originals.

The Index

Both the keywords and the entries following each keyword, including those in foreign lan-

guages, are in strict alphabetical order. Singular and plural nouns (with their possessive

forms) are grouped separately: for ‘you choose your disease’ see ‘disease’; for ‘coughs and

sneezes spread diseases’ see ‘diseases’. Variant forms of common words (doctor, Dr) are

grouped under a single heading: ‘doctor’.

The references show the author’s name, usually in abbreviated form

(SHAK/Shakespeare), followed by the page number.