Arthritis is a medical term for inflammation of a joint, with many specific named forms. Rheumatism is an old, informal umbrella word for aches and pains in joints, muscles and connective tissue. Doctors diagnose arthritis; rheumatism is no longer used as a diagnosis at all.
The core difference
- arthritis — inflammation of one or more joints. A precise term covering many distinct conditions.
- rheumatism — a historical catch-all for musculoskeletal pain, not a diagnosis in modern medicine.
Why rheumatism fell out of use
The word covered too much. It was applied to joint pain, muscle pain, back pain and soft-tissue pain with no distinction between causes that turned out to be entirely unrelated. As those causes were separated and named, the umbrella term stopped being useful clinically.
It survives in everyday speech, especially among older speakers, and in the names of institutions and specialities that predate the change.
Rheumatology, which did survive
The speciality is still called rheumatology, and it covers autoimmune and inflammatory conditions affecting joints and connective tissue. The word persisted as a field name while disappearing as a diagnosis, which is why a rheumatologist treats arthritis but nobody is diagnosed with rheumatism.
The main forms of arthritis
- Osteoarthritis — wear of the joint cartilage, the most common form.
- Rheumatoid arthritis — an autoimmune condition in which the body attacks the joint lining. Note that the word rheumatoid preserves the old term inside a modern diagnosis.
- Gout — crystals forming in a joint, historically a distinct and well-recognised condition.
Where the words come from
Arthritis is Greek: arthron, joint, plus -itis, inflammation. Rheumatism comes from Greek rheuma, a flow or stream — reflecting an old theory that bodily humours flowed to the joints and caused pain there. The theory went; the word lingered.
This page explains the words, not your symptoms. Anything persistent is a question for a doctor.
Frequently asked questions
Is rheumatism the same as arthritis?
No. Arthritis means joint inflammation and covers many specific diagnoses. Rheumatism is an old umbrella term for musculoskeletal aches and is no longer used as a diagnosis.
Do doctors still diagnose rheumatism?
No. The term covered too many unrelated causes to be clinically useful. The speciality is still called rheumatology, but patients are diagnosed with specific conditions.
Why is it called rheumatoid arthritis?
The name preserves the older word rheumatism inside a modern diagnosis, from a time when the two vocabularies overlapped.