Another medical term I never ;heard before:
serpigo ( pronounced with long "i").
5ME < ML < L serpere, to creep: see SERPENT6 any spreading skin disease, as ringworm

Dustin Hoffman with impetigo?

Was he gay? A gay psychiatrist I despised used to have complexion marred by his activities.

Edit I belatedly remembered a movie, Serpico. But when I looked it up, cast mentioned
Al Pacino, but not Dustin Hoffman.

yep. Al Pacino... my bad...
and no, I don't think gender preference had anything to do with it.

So did Al Pacino have a parabolic chin?

Some parasites burrow under the skin very close to the surface - the snake-track-like lesions visible from the outside are described as "serpiginous."

There is also "intertrigo" (again pronounced with a stressed long i), the irritation that occurs when two patches of skin press against each other so consistently that they never have a chance to dry, and get all red and sore. ('"macerated," i.e. chewed up).

Btw - how come they put so many medical words on a high school kids' spelling bee list, anyway? :-)

>>Btw - how come they put so many medical words on a high school kids' spelling bee list, anyway? {primitive }

I was wondering the same thing. Clearly one of the qualifications sought to be on the governing committee is a sadistic streak.

{primitive }

Primitive, shmimitive. It's "economy of expression." My way takes only three keystrokes ;-)