Morgellons
/mɔɹˈd͡ʒɛlənz/noun
Morgellons is spelled M-O-R-G-E-L-L-O-N-S: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, Morgellons means “An unproven skin disorder, usually thought to be delusional parasitosis, characterized by skin lesions in which fibers are found” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in Morgellons?
| Letters | 10: M-O-R-G-E-L-L-O-N-S |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words; the 161,690th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is Morgellons?
Morgellons appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce Morgellons?
- UK /mɔː(ɹ)ˈd͡ʒɛlənz/
- US /mɔɹˈd͡ʒɛlənz/
- US /mɔɹˈɡɛlənz/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does Morgellons mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An unproven skin disorder, usually thought to be delusional parasitosis, characterized by skin lesions in which fibers are found.
- 2
obsoleteA disease causing hairs to grow on the backs of children.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does Morgellons come from?
Coined in 2004 by Mary Leitao after a description of an illness in Thomas Browne's A Letter to a Friend (c. 1656, pub. 1690), “that Endemial Distemper of little Children in Languedock, called the Morgellons, wherein they critically break out with harsh Hairs on their Backs”, apparently a corruption of Masquelons, from Provençal masclous (“little flies”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).