"diseased or affected with scrofula," early 15c., from Medieval Latin scrophulosus; see scrofula + -ous. Related: Scrofulously; scrofulousness.
Entries linking to scrofulous
scrofula n.
disorder that primarily affects the lymph glands, c. 1400 (Lanfranc), scrophula, from Medieval Latin scrofulæ (plural) "swelling of the glands of the neck," literally "little pigs," from Latin scrofa "breeding sow" (see screw (n.)). The connection may be because the glands associated with the disease resemble the body of a sow or some part of it, or because pigs were thought to be prone to it. Compare Greek khoirades (plural) "scrofula," related to khoiros "young pig." Old English had the word as scrofell.
-ous
word-forming element making adjectives from nouns, meaning "having, full of, having to do with, doing, inclined to," from Old French -ous, -eux, from Latin -osus (compare -ose (1)). In chemistry, "having a lower valence than forms expressed in -ic."