Wḫdw
Wḫdw is a term for a particular kind of agent of decay and disease in ancient Egyptian medicine. According to Steuer, the Egyptians conceived of it as originating with the fecal matter within the bowels. From here, "wḫdw" was seen as being absorbed into the blood vessels ("mtw") from the lower intestines ("pḥwj", literally ‘rear’), from where it spread to other body parts, causing abscesses and other symptoms of disease in the bodies of the living; it was particularly associated with pus in the blood. Meanwhile, in the bodies of the dead, "wḫdw" instead manifested as decomposition. The similarity  of this conception of disease and decay to the Ancient Greek concept of "perittōma" has suggested that this element of Ancient Greek medicine may be traceable to Egypt. In searching for a convenient and concise translation of "wḫdw" into English, Steuer and Bertrand de Cusance Morant Saunders examine several possibilities: "residues", a translation used by Jones for "perittōma", fails to suggest the pathogenic nature of "wḫdw"; "miasma", suggested by Jonckheere, misleadingly suggests transmission by air and an external origin; "putrefaction" or "corruption", their own suggestion, is not entirely satisfactory to them, as "wḫdw" encompasses a conception greater than just the  biological process of decay. The term "wḫdw" is attested in the Ebers Papyrus, Hearst papyrus, and Papyrus Berlin 3038, among other sources.