Daily AncestorSyncope
Syncope was the medical word for fainting; as a cause of death it meant the person suddenly collapsed and did not revive.
Webster's 1913 gives the medical sense of syncope as a fainting or swooning. Fainting is caused by a drop in blood flow to the brain, usually from low blood pressure.
As a cause of death, syncope says only that the person collapsed and did not revive. It does not name the disease behind the collapse, so look for other clues in the record.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Jno. Weller, 58, M, W, Syncope
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Daily Ancestor. "Syncope." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/syncope. Last checked 2026-10-10.