Wart

Wart: A local growth of the outer layer of the skin (the epidermis) caused by a virus.

The virus of warts (a papillomavirus) is transmitted by contact.

The contact can be with a wart on someone else or one on oneself (autoinoculation).</P> Warts that occur on the hands or top of the feet are called 'common warts.' A wart on the sole (the plantar surface) of the foot is a plantar wart (and can be quite painful).

Genital (venereal) warts are located on the genitals and are transmitted by sexual contact; they are a form of STD (sexually transmitted disease).</P> Warts are nothing new.

The word 'wart' is from Old English.

As far back as the 8th century, a 'wart' was, well, a wart.

The medical name for a wart is 'verruca', the Latin for wart.

A common wart is a 'verruca vulgaris'.

A wart in medicine is also sometimes called by its Spanish name, 'verruga'.