Daily AncestorConsumption
Consumption is the old name for tuberculosis, especially of the lungs, a slow wasting disease that was a leading cause of death in the 1800s.
Consumption was the everyday word for pulmonary tuberculosis. The name described how the illness seemed to consume the body, with weight loss, coughing and weakness that could stretch over months or years.
In the 1800s it was one of the great killers. Doctors sometimes applied the word to other wasting illnesses too, so an entry of consumption points strongly to tuberculosis without proving it.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Sarah Platt, 27, F, W, Married, N.Y., March, Consumption, 240 days
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Daily Ancestor. "Consumption." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/consumption. Last checked 2026-10-01.