#folk medicine

• aba - A thick, coarse woolen fabric, usually white or gray, processed in a fulling mill. In Balkan ethnomedicine and history of hygiene, this material was historically used for weather-resistant peasant clothing and as an elementary thermal insulator in traditional rural treatments (dry wraps to combat chills or rheumatism).
• Abanul - An extremely rare archaic term attested in old Balkan apocryphal writings or healing manuscripts, denoting the symbolic or demonic personification of an acute febrile illness or a severe muscle spasm. In medieval folk medicine, diseases were frequently labeled with strange proper names (such as Abanul) to facilitate medical exorcism rituals and charms aimed at driving away pain.
• abărlău - A term from Romanian folk medicine or archaic phytotherapy used regionally to denote extracts, concentrated infusions, or empirical solutions prepared from plants with strong purgative, emetic, or slightly toxic effects. In old village practices, these curative mixtures were used for 'blood cleansing' or eliminating intestinal parasites, with accidental poisoning cases being frequently documented in past medical reports.
• Abason - A rare archaic and mythological term found in medieval superstitions and magic-medical manuscripts of Southern Europe, representing the demonic personification of an acute mental illness or furious delirium. In ancient empirical medicine, severe epileptic seizures or psychotic episodes were often attributed to possession by Abason, with healing attempted through charms, exorcisms, and fumigations with sedative plants.
• abătătură - An archaic or regional term used in Romanian folk medicine to describe a superficial traumatic lesion, a bruise (ecchymosis), an inflamed callus, or an excoriation produced by friction, impact, or prolonged compression on soft tissues. In early medical reports or rural forensic evaluations, the word served as an empirical descriptor for minor skin trauma or localized edema occurring after wearing improper work equipment.
• abeș - An archaic term from Romanian folk medicine, used regionally in the past to denote intestinal worms, roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides), or, broadly, internal parasites in humans and animals. In old village beliefs, the presence of an abeș was associated with symptoms such as nocturnal abdominal spasms, teeth grinding in children, loss of appetite, or extreme weakness, and was countered with aggressive herbal remedies made from bitter plants.
• abie - An archaic regional variant historically used in certain Carpathian zones to denote the silver fir (Abies alba) or the pure resin extracted from conifer bark. In Romanian folk medicine, ointments prepared with 'abie' (animal fat mixed with resin and beeswax) were used empirically by village healers as powerful healing agents for open wounds or as chest balms against typhus and severe pneumonia.
• abieluța - An archaic and diminutive folk name used regionally in mountain communities to denote a small species or young shoot of the silver fir (Abies alba), or a weak medicinal infusion prepared from its needles. In empirical village medicine, the abieluța extract was administered as a syrup or tonic tea to soothe pertussis in children, alleviate acute bronchitis, and stimulate appetite during convalescence states.