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Papilloedema describes swelling of the optic papilla (also known as the 'optic nerve head' or 'optic disc') due to raised intracranial pressure. The term was introduced by J. Herbert Parsons 1 in 1908 in an attempt to clarify the distinction between the terms then in use, such as 'choked disc' and 'papillitis'. We would like to point out that 'papilloedema' is a tautological curiosity as a result of an anomaly surrounding the term 'papilla' introduced by William Briggs (1650-1704)-an early pioneer of visual science and ophthalmology who counted Isaac Newton amongst his associates.
Briggs introduced the term 'optic papilla' in his book Ophthalmographia , 2 which was published in 1676. The Latin papilla is a noun meaning 'nipple' ( figure 1 ) and is the diminutive of papula or 'swelling'. Yet, the optic disc is not usually elevated except in high hypermetropia, and indeed in most people there is a physiological cup. So why might Briggs have observed a nipple shaped...