Abstract

Nevus sebaceus (NS) of Jadassohn, also known as “organoid nevus”, is a common congenital malformation that was first described by Josef Jadassohn in 1895. Affecting 0.3% of newborns, NS is a benign, non-hereditary hamartoma appearing in the epidermis that is composed of sebaceous glands, sweat glands, and hair follicles. Variability has always existed in usage between the -eus and -eous suffixes. We decided to investigate which of the two spelling variations is “correct”. To better understand the variations in spelling, we undertook a literature review, using the search terms “nevus sebaceus” and “nevus sebaceous” in Ovid, restricting the results to those published between 1946 and 2022. Analysis of the results shows that the two spellings were used with somewhat similar frequency between 1946 and 2007. Beginning in 2008, however, the “sebaceous” spelling has been favored overwhelmingly across a variety of publications. Stratifying the results by US and non-US country of publication showed that while -eous suffix use increased worldwide, this change was more drastic among publications based in non-US countries. Consultation with linguistic researchers provided insight that the Latin noun “sebaceus” means “tallow” or “candle”. In contrast, the English word “sebaceous” is an adjective, meaning “tallowy” or “fatty”. Therefore, the “correct” term would be “nevus sebaceus”, with the modifier following the noun.