Qualm
1. Sickness, disease, pestilence, or death. As in “A thousand slain and not of qualm ystorve [not dead of sickness]” (Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales) 2. A sudden sick feeling. As in “A qualm came over me, a horrid nausea and the most deadly shuddering.” (Robert Louis Stevenson in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”) 3. Today, a sudden attack of emotion or principle, particularly in not following one’s conscience or better judgment.
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- Quantitative
Having to do with quantity or with the amount. See also qualitative.
- Quaque (on prescription)
q.d. (qd or QD) is once a day; q.d. stands for “quaque die” (which means, in Latin, once a day). b.i.d. (bid or BID) is twice a day; b.i.d. stands for “bis in die” (which means twice a day). t.i.d. (or tid or TID) is three times a day ; t.i.d. stands for “ter in […]
- Quaque die (on prescription)
If a medicine is to be taken every so-many hours, it is written “q_h”; the “q” standing for “quaque” and the “h” indicating the number of hours. So, for example, “2 caps q4h” means “Take 2 capsules every 4 hours.”
- Quarantine
A period of isolation decreed to control the spread of infectious disease. Before the era of antibiotics and other medications, quarantine was one of the few available means for halting the spread of infectious diseases.
- Quasi-
Prefix meaning seemingly, as in quasidominant (seemingly dominant).