[Cutaneous semiology: a historical perspective of the evolution of basic terminology in Spain]

There are still numerous incompatibilities in the definitions of basic dermatological terms. In Spain, the problem is aggravated by the coexistence and conflict between two different semantic models, imported from other countries (France and the USA). These two models really have different "units": one model can be called "essentialist" and the other "nominalist". These models are not original to Spain; rather, each one shows the predominance or influence of an outside culture. Through a historical and evolutional study, we were able to verify that the origin of these semantic models goes back to Joseph Plenck and Robert Willan (essentialist model) and to Ferdinand Hebra (nominalist model), respectively. An analysis of these models from a historical perspective may help in understanding the origin of the current conflicts in the everyday use of Spanish dermatological semiology, and may therefore help resolve them.