By June Pelo
From time to time someone will ask me to translate the Swedish words pertaining to illness and death that they find in records in Finland during their research. So I put together the following list of words most frequently encountered.
| SWEDISH | ENGLISH |
| andtäppa | asthma; shortness of breath |
| anfall | seizures |
| barnsjukdom | disease of children |
| barnsnöd | labor; travail |
| barnsängfeber | puerperal fever; childbed fever |
| benröta | diseases of the bone |
| blödning | bleeding |
| brock | hernia |
| bråd död | sudden death |
| bräcklighet | frailness |
| bröstfeber | pneumonia; infection and fever of chest area |
| bröstsjuka | sickness in chest area |
| bröstvärk | chest cold; pain in chest |
| bröstvattensot | hydropneumonia; chest dropsy |
| diarrhe | diarrhea |
| difteri | diphtheria |
| digerdöden | plague; the black death |
| dröppel | gonorrhea |
| dufvenhet | feebleness |
| dödslängd | record of death |
| dödssäng | death bed |
| dödsorsak | cause of death |
| döfstum | deaf and dumb |
| fallandesot | epilepsy |
| fallsjuka | epilepsy |
| feberfrossa | malaria |
| flussfeber | rheumatic or catarrhal fever |
| frossa | malaria |
| fylleri | drunkenness |
| fårkopper | chicken pox |
| fältfeber | typhoid fever |
| födslovärkar | labor pains |
| förfrysa | freeze to death |
| förgiftad | poisoned |
| förkyllning | cold; chill |
| förstoppning | constipation |
| gallfeber | bilious fever |
| gallsjuk | choleric |
| halsböld | throat tumor |
| halssjuka | inflammation of throat |
| halsfluss | tonsilitis |
| hetsigfeber | inflammatory fever |
| hjärnblödning | stroke; cerebral hemorrhage |
| hjärtslag | cardiac arrest |
| hosta | cough |
| hudsjukdom | cutaneous sickness |
| hungersdöd | starvation |
| håll | pleurisy |
| håll och stygn | pneumonia |
| hängsjuka | weakness; craziness |
| innansjuka | diarrhea |
| kallsvulst | phlegmatic tumor |
| kikhosta | whooping cough |
| kokoppa | cowpox |
| koppor | smallpox |
| koppärr | smallpox |
| kramphosta | convulsive cough |
| kräfta | cancer |
| kräftsår | cancerous ulcer |
| kvaft | suffocation |
| kväftning | suffocation |
| lazaretfeber | typhus |
| lefersjuka | hepatitis; liver disease |
| lunginflammation | pneumonia |
| lungsiktig | lung sickness; consumptive |
| lungsot | consumption; tuberculosis |
| magref | colic |
| magsjuk | sickness of stomach |
| magvärk | stomachache |
| messling | measles |
| missfall | miscarriage; abortion |
| mjältsjuka | spleen sickness |
| nervfeber | typhoid fever |
| njursten | kidney stone |
| njurvärk | nephritis |
| plåga | plague; pain |
| påssjuka | mumps |
| rödsot | dysentery |
| sinnessjukdom | mental illness |
| skendöd | asphyxia; apparent death |
| slag | stroke |
| slagfluss | apoplexy |
| smittkoppor | smallpox |
| sockersjuka | diabetes |
| sot | sickness; disease |
| starr | cataract; glaucoma |
| sting | pleurisy |
| strypssjuka | croup; quinsy |
| strypning | strangulation |
| svag | weak; feeble |
| svullnad | swelling; tumor |
| svulst | swelling; tumor |
| sårfeber | surgical or wound fever |
| tarmränna | dysentery |
| trånfeber | comsumption; lingering fever |
| trångbröstighet | asthma |
| tuberkulos | tuberculosis |
| tvinsot | asthma; consumption |
| typhus | typhoid |
| tärsot | consumption |
| utsot | diarrhea |
| vanskapad | deformed |
| varsår | ulcer; fester |
| vattenkoppor | chickenpox or waterpox |
| vattensot | dropsy |
| vattusot | dropsy |
| venerisk | venereal disease |
| ålderdom | old age |
