Historical cause of death 1700s-1900s
What did lockjaw mean on a death certificate?
On a death record, lockjaw meant tetanus, named for the jaw spasm that announced it, usually following a puncture wound days before. In modern terms it usually pointed to tetanus. Trismus nascentium, lockjaw of newborns from cord infection, devastated some communities and appears on infant records under that name. Expect it on records mostly 1700s-1900s.
Also written on records as: trismus, tetanus.
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Related terms
Browse the full genealogy records glossary for more occupations, causes of death, and legal terms.
FAQs
What is lockjaw called today?+
Tetanus, broadly speaking. Doctors of the period diagnosed without laboratory tests, so one label often covered several conditions we would now separate. This page explains historical record language and is not medical advice.
How was lockjaw written on death records?+
Clerks and doctors also wrote trismus and tetanus. Spelling wandered from register to register, so check every variant before you decide a record is missing or wrong.
Where do these definitions come from?+
They are drawn from period dictionaries, government archive glossaries, and standard genealogy references, cross-checked against each other; provenance is documented with the dataset. Inside AncestorIQ, Deep Research reads the record itself and explains terms like this in context, against your ancestor's own document.
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