A word I've not seen for years.
"Even his voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen
glands when he was young, he told me, and it had left him with
a weak throat, and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech."

quin·sy ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kwnz)
n.
Acute inflammation of the tonsils and the surrounding tissue, often leading to the formation of an abscess.


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[Middle English, from Medieval Latin quinancia, and Old French quinancie both from Greek kunankh, dog quinsy, dog-collar : kun, kun-, dog; see kwon- in Indo-European Roots + ankhein, to squeeze; see angh- in Indo-European Roots.]