Vulnus sclopetarium (gunshot wound).

• Authors: Wm Clyde Partin Jr., Emory University
• Journal Title: Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings
• Volume: Volume 31, Number 2
• Publisher: Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas | 2018-04-01, Pages 231-234
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/08998280.2018.1444299
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Health Sciences, Pathology
• Keywords: Civil war; International Classification of Diseases-10; St. Elizabeths Hospital; gunshot wound; vulnus sclopetarium

Abstract

Fading from the vernacular, the Latin phrase vulnus sclopetarium is a quaint, mystifying, and fascinating term that is translated as gunshot wound. There is a fulminating paucity of published information regarding the meaning of this term and the etymology. Trauma surgeons, military surgeons, and scholars of the medical aspects of the civil war may be familiar with the term. Vulnus is easily deciphered from ancient Latin as wound, whereas the origin of sclopetarium proves more difficult to discern. No guns were present in ancient Rome because guns were not invented until around the 13th century; hence, no Latin word for them existed. Thus, sclopetarium is classified as neo-Latin, and deconstruction of the word reveals that sclopeta means gun, but that destination was arrived at via a convoluted path. The suffix -arium implies a place. Remarriage of the two parts suggests that the gun is an instrument of injury, which is typically incurred on a battlefield. An alternative explanation may be that -arium may also refer to the anatomical location of the wound.