Emily Dickinson Lexicon

EL-E-PHANT-I'A-SIS, n. [L. and Gr. from ελεφας, elephant.]

A disease of the skin, often confounded with leprosy, from which nevertheless it is quite distinct. In this disease, the thin is thick, livid, rugose, tuberculate; insensible as respects feeling; eyes fierce and staring; perspiration highly offensive. J. M. Good.