Aegrescit medendo
“It grows worse with the healing.”
Virgil, Aeneid 12.46
What does “Aegrescit medendo” mean?
Aegrescit medendo translates as “It grows worse with the healing.”
Said when the attempted cure makes a problem worse.
“Aegrescit medendo” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Aegrescit | it grows sick, it grows worse | third person singular present active indicative of aegresco, “I grow sick, I grow worse”; the subject is understood (“it”) |
| medendo | by healing, in the course of treating | ablative of the gerund (verbal noun) of medeor, “I heal, I treat”; means “by or through healing” |
How to pronounce “Aegrescit medendo”
The two pronunciations differ only in the opening vowel: the ae of aegrescit is “eye” in Classical and “eh” in Church Latin. The stress falls on the second syllable of both words.
The story behind it
Word for word the phrase says “it grows sick by healing”, that is, the trouble gets worse through the very attempt to cure it. The short form is a proverb drawn from Virgil’s Aeneid, the Roman national epic.
In Book 12 Virgil describes Turnus, the Rutulian leader who fights Aeneas. His fury only grows fiercer when others try to calm it, and the poet puts it as “aegrescitque medendo”, with the verb joined to “and” by the ending -que.
Because the line is so compact, it came to be quoted on its own. It is used for any remedy that backfires, whether in medicine, politics or everyday life.
How to use “Aegrescit medendo”
It suits a wry comment on a fix that made things worse, an essay on unintended consequences, or a caption for a problem you tried too hard to solve. As a tattoo or motto it is a pointed, slightly ironic choice rather than an encouraging one.
- Latin
- Aegrescit medendo
- English
- It grows worse with the healing.
- Source
- Virgil, Aeneid 12.46
- Era
- Antiquity
- Theme
- Wisdom
Common mistakes
- It does not mean that healing is pointless. It describes one case where the cure backfires.
- The full Virgilian line reads aegrescitque medendo, with -que (“and”) attached. The short form drops it, so do not treat aegrescit medendo as a verbatim line of the poem.
- Medendo is not a person or a medicine. It is an ablative gerund, “by healing”, so it should not be changed to medicus or medicina.
- Aegrescit is singular (“it grows worse”). For several things, the plural is aegrescunt.
Questions about “Aegrescit medendo”
What does “Aegrescit medendo” mean literally?
Literally “it grows sick by healing”. In natural English: it gets worse with the treatment.
Who said “Aegrescit medendo”?
It comes from Virgil’s Aeneid, Book 12, line 46, where it describes the rage of Turnus. The short form without -que is a proverb based on that line.
How do you pronounce “Aegrescit medendo”?
In Classical Latin: eye-GRES-kit meh-DEN-doh. In Church Latin the first word starts with “eh” instead of “eye”.
Is “Aegrescit medendo” a good tattoo?
The Latin is correct and short. The meaning is ironic and a little dark, so choose it only if you want the idea of a cure that makes things worse.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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