# Word origin: Hives

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-hives/65555>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 16, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-hives/65555 "2001-05-16T01:20:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-hives/65555/1 "2001-05-16T01:20:47Z")

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AKA urticaria in medical parlance. The topic came up in a room full of MD’s today and nobody had a clue. Even my Stedman’s Medical dictionary was of no use.

The most obvious possibility is that the name somehow originates from an associatiation with bees. I doubt it, though. While some individuals develop hives secondary to beestings, much more commonly, hives are associated with a food allergy or viral infection. And there’s no way the condition is named for its likeness to beehives. To verify, check out the image [here.](http://162.129.72.40/dermatlas/Display.cfm?ImageName=urticarialexanthem_1_010422)

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2001, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-hives/65555/2 "2001-05-16T02:22:02Z")

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Well, the original **OED** had no better clue than the rest of you. Its earliest citation is from a Scottish list of ailments.

Someone named Jamieson speculated that it came from _heave_ since the rash “heaves up” from within the skin. The **OED** , however, notes that this is phonologically improbable (meaning that the way the word was originally pronounced in the region where it was originally recorded, it is unlikely that the the long E sound in heave would shift to the long I sound of hives).

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2001, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-hives/65555/3 "2001-05-16T02:38:59Z")

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BTW, if hives/urticaria _always_ manifests as the low, lumpy, reddish-brown eruption in your linked photo, I would agree that it is not connected to beehives.

However, I have seen another rash (on the hand and wrist) in which the skin did, in fact, erupt into small, conical shapes quite similar to old-fashioned beehives. Is it possible that the name, once associated with a specific (descriptive) condition came to be applied to a broader list of conditions and lost its initial value? (Mind you, I have no supprt for this WAG from any reference I have checked.)

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**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-hives/65555/4 "2001-05-16T14:58:40Z")

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Some words don’t have a known origin:  
Websters:  
noun plural but singular or plural in construction  
Etymology:origin unknown  
Date:circa 1500 URTICARIA

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**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2001, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-hives/65555/5 "2001-05-16T16:10:45Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by handy \*  
> \*\*Some words don’t have a known origin:  
> Websters:  
> noun plural but singular or plural in construction  
> Etymology:origin unknown  
> Date:circa 1500 URTICARIA \*\*

Come on, are you saying that even **Cecil** doesn’t know the origin?