Causes of death in Latin: Morbus et Qualitas Mortis

Polish parish death records of the 17th to 19th centuries usually give the cause of death in Latin, the language of the Church registers. Many printed register forms have a column headed morbus et qualitas mortis (“illness and nature of death”). The words written in it, such as phthisis (tuberculosis), febris puerperalis (childbirth fever) or apoplexia (stroke), show what our ancestors died of, and sometimes point to an epidemic that struck a whole parish.

Latin-English glossary of causes of death

The table lists 178 Latin terms found in historical death registers, with English equivalents. Use it as an aid to transcription, not as a modern diagnosis: spelling, abbreviations and local usage vary, and the rest of the entry often settles the meaning.

Download the Latin-English glossary as CSV (178 entries; UTF-8).

Latin Term	English Translation
a vulnere	from wounds
abortus	miscarriage, aborted foetus
absces gutturis	throat abscess
adustus igne	burned by fire
ambustio	burn
ambustio in calce	burned by lime
amentia	insanity
anasarca	edema
aneurisma	aneurysm
angina	infection of the throat
apoplexia	apoplexy
apoplexia, apoplexia cerebri	stroke
aqua suffocatus	drowned
aquis submersa	arowning
ascites	abdominal dropsy
ascitis, ascites	ascites
asthma	asthma
atheroma	atheroma
atrophia	atrophia
bronhitis	bronchitis
cachexia	wasting syndrome
calcinatio cerebri	brain calcification
calcinatio cordis	heart calcification
cancer stomachi	stomach cancer
cancer, carcinoma	cancer
Carbunculus	Carbuncle - a cluster of boils caused by bacterial infection
Carcinoma	Cancer
Cardiopalmus	Palpitation
Casu	Accidental
casu suffocatus	accidental suffocation
catarrhus	nasal catarrh
Catharus	Catarrhal inflammation
Cholera Asiatica	Asian cholera
coclus	whooping cough
coecus	blindness
colica	colic
Combusta ignem	Fire victim „burned in a fire”
combustio	burns
Consueta	Normal, Ordinary
Consumptio	Mostly tuberculosis, historically called “Consumption”
consumptio	tuberculosis
contusio	injury
convulsio	shock
convulsiones	convulsions, epilepsy
convulsionibus	convulsion
cordiapalmus	palpitations
corditis	endocarditis
Croup	Croup, Laryngitis
Cystodynia	Pain in bladder
debilis natus	weakness since birth
debilitas	disability, weakness
debilitas amens	mental illness
debilitas cordis	heart defect
debilitas innata	congenital defect
debilitas naturalis	physical disability
debilitas stomachi	stomach defect
debilitas ventris, gastri	stomach disorder
debilitas virium	vital weakness
delirium	delirium
diarrhoea	diarrhoea
difficilis partus	difficult childbirth
diphteritis	diphtheria
dissenteria, dysenteria	dysentery
dolor capitis	headache
dolor in visceribus	internal pain
dolor pectoris	chest pain
dolor stomachi	stomach ache
dolor viscerum	internal pain
ebrietas	drunkenness, alcohol poisoning
ejectio sanguinis	haemorrhage
Emphysema Pulmonum	Emphysema - a lung condition that causes shortness of breath
encephalitis	encephalitis
Enteritis	Inflammation of the intestines
epidemia	epidemic
epilepsia	epilepsy
erisipelas	erysipelas
fame	famine
febris	fever
febris postpartum	postpartum fever
febris putrida	putrid fever
febris stomachi	acute gastritis
fluxus	discharge
fluxus sanguinis	blood loss
foetus immaturus	underdeveloped foetus
foetus mortuus natus	stillborn foetus
foetus praematurus	premature foetus
fortuite occisus	accidentally killed
frigore extinctus	froze to death
fulmine ictus	struck by lightning
gangrena	gangrene
Gastritis	Inflammation of the stomach
gastritis	gastritis
Grassans	1) Epidemic 2) Robbers
gravis partus	difficult labour
haematopathia	blood disorder
haemorrhagia	haemorrhage
Haemorrhagia pulmonum	Coughing up of blood
Hectica	Habitual fever - a fever with accessions at noon and evening.
hectica	consumptive fever
hernia	hernia
hernia incarcerata	incarcerated hernia
hydronephrosis	hydronephrosis
hydrops	hydropsy
hydropsis	dropsy
hydrothorax	hydrops pectoris. fluid accumulation in the chest cavity
Ignota	Unknown
Ileus	Colic in the large intestines
immaturus partus	premature birth
in partu	during childbirth
infectio sanguinis	blood infection
infelix casus	unfortunate accident
inflammatio	inflammation
inflammatio anasacrae	subcutaneous inflammation
inflammatio cerebri	brain inflammation
inflammatio glandularum	mononucleosis
inflammatio gutturis	throat inflammation
inflammatio pulmonum	pneumonia, inflammation of the lungs
inflammatio pulmonum	pneumonia
inflammatio renum	kidney inflammation
inflammatio uteri	uterine inflammation
inflammatio viscerum	gastric inflammation
influenza	influenza
innata debilitas	congenital disability
invaginatio	intestinal intussusception
invivus natus	stillborn
ischuria	urinary retention
laesio intestinorum	internal injury
laryngitis	acute laryngitis
Marasmus senilis	The emaciation characteristic of old age
marasmus senilis, marasmus sterilis	senile marasmus
meningitis	meningitis
Meningitis Cerebrospinalis	Inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord
miserere	intestinal obstruction
morbili	measles or rubella
morbus cordis	heart disease
Mortua post partum	Died after giving birth
Naturali	A natural death
Nephritis	Inflammation of the kidneys
Nervosa	Nervous fever, marked by nervous system disturbances and delirium
Ob egestatem	Due to poverty
Occisus	Murdered
Oedema	Edema
Ordinaria	Ordinary
Paralisis	Paralysis
Paraliticus	Affected with paralysis
Parotis, Parotitis	Inflammation of parotid glands
Perfrictio	A cold
Petocia, Petechiae	Purple spots on the skin not elevated, mostly appearing in contagious diseases
Phthysis, Phthisis	Pulmonary tuberculosis, historically called “Consumption”
Pleuritis, Pleura	Pleurisy
Plica	An enlargement of the hair of the head, so as to be painful and to bleed.
Pneumonia	Inflammation of the lungs
Polycholia	An excessive secretion of bile
Post partum	After giving birth
Rachitis	Rickets
Repentina morte	Sudden, unexpected death
Rheumatismus	Rheumatism
Rhexis venae	Rupture of a vein
Rubeola	Measles with sore throat
Ruptura	Rupture
Scarlatina	Scarlet Fever
Scrophulosa	Scrofula - tuberculosis causes outside the lungs
Se ipsum occidit	Suicide
senectus	old age
suicidium	suicide
Syphilis	Syphilis
Tuberculosis	Tuberculosis
Tumiditas	Swelling
Tussis, Thussis	Cough
Typhus	Typhus
Ulcus	An ulcer
Ulcus ventriculi	Peptic ulcers
Variolae, Variolis	Smallpox
Venerica	Venereal
Vermibus, Vermis, Vermes	Worms
Vitium cordis	The heart defect
Volvulus	Twisting of the intestines (intestinal obstruction)
vomitus	vomiting

Reading the morbus et qualitas mortis column

Read the column heading separately from the words entered beneath it. In a register headed morbus et qualitas mortis, the heading identifies the type of information being recorded; the entry below it needs its own transcription and interpretation.

Copy the full phrase, including abbreviations, before consulting the glossary. Compare neighbouring entries in the same handwriting and keep the parish, year and page reference with your notes. A historical term may be broad or uncertain, so preserve the original wording rather than presenting it as a precise modern diagnosis.

For the rest of the entry, see our guide to reading Latin parish records. If you still need to locate the document, begin with Polish death records.

Scope, references and citation

Causes of death were recorded with the medical knowledge and vocabulary of their period, so a historical term may be broad, ambiguous or unlike a present-day diagnosis. Preserve the original wording in your notes and use the surrounding entry, date and parish to assess the meaning.

For wider Latin vocabulary and handwriting practice, consult the FamilySearch Latin Genealogical Word List and its Latin for Genealogists lesson. They are independent of this site and do not verify every item in this table.

Suggested citation: The Polish Genealogist, “Latin Causes of Death: Morbus et Qualitas Mortis Glossary”, https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/vital-records/latin-death-record-causes/ (accessed 20 September 2026).