The following table is our canonical causes of death and their description as determined by the Oxford English Dictionary.

Cause	Definition
Abortive	an aborted pregnancy; see also miscarriage and still-born
Aged	death by natural causes during old age
Ague	chills and fever, often from malaria
Apoplexy	rupture of an internal organ, especially the brain
Asthma	chronic inflamation of the airways, making it difficult to breathe
Beaten	punched, kicked, etc.
Bed-ridden	confined to bed through sickness or infirmity and subsequent death
Blasted	probably having a withered or blighted appearance
Bleeding	excessive blood loss
Bloody-flux	bloody diarrhea, especially from dysentery
Burnt	fire injuries, probably excluding smoke inhalation
Calenture	heat stroke or sunstroke with delirium
Cancer	originally a sore or ulcer that wouldn't heal, later a malignant tumor
Chicken-Pox	viral infectious disease still known as chickenpox today; see also shingles
Child-Bed	maternal death during childbirth
Chrisoms	infant deaths under one month old
Cold	assorted viral, respiratory illnesses believed to be caused by a humoreal imbalance (too much coldness)
Colick	severe stomach pain due to issue with bowels
Consumption	wasting disease, especially pulmonary tuberculosis
Convulsion	involuntary contractions and relaxation of muscles, shaking entire body
Cough	death with coughing as a primary symptom
Cramp	involuntary muscle contraction
Diabetes	excessive urination
Distracted	language used to excuse suicide or accidental death due to mental illness
Dropsie	swelling of tissue due to accumulation of excess water, a sign of organ failure
Drowned	inhalation of liquid, usually but not always water
Executed	judicial homicide
Falling-sickness	epileptic seizures
Fever	death with fever as a primary symptom
Fistula	abnormal connection between two organs
Flox	hemorrhagic smallpox
Flux	diarrhea, especially from dysentery
Frighted	frightened to death
French-Pox	syphilis
Gangreen	death of body tissue because of lack of blood flow or bacterial infection
Gout	urate crystals accumulating in joints
Grief	death (not caused by disease or human agency) which is attributed to grief and losing the will to live
Griping or Plague in the Guts	sudden intense pain in the intestines, diarrhea
Gripes	see griping in the guts
Headache	death with head pains as a primary symptom
Headmouldshot	injury or disease affecting skull sutures, including overlapping sutures and possibly brain inflammation
Hiccough	death with hiccough as a primary symptom
Hooping Cough	whooping cough
Horshoehead	infant skull malformation where gaps form between head sutures
Impostume	bacterial abscess
Infants	death of a child over a month old but still in infancy
Inflammation	death with inflammation as a primary symptom
Itch	death with itching as a primary symptom
Jaundies	liver disease, causes yellowing of skin and eyes
Jaw-fallen	neonatal tetanus
Killed	death caused by human agency
Kings Evil	tubercular infection of throat lymph glands
Leprosie	leprosy
Lethargy	death with extreme drowsiness as primary symptom
Liver-grown	swollen liver
Looseness	death with loose stool or diarrhea as a primary symptom
Lunatick and Frenzy	death of someone with mental illness or in an altered mental state; see also distracted
Malignant Fever	death with a severe or extremely contagious fever as a primary symptom
Meagrim	severe headache or migraine
Measles	deadly and highly infectious disease, still known today as measles but now preventable by vaccines
Miscarriage	aborted pregnancy; see also abortive and still-born
Mortification	gangrene or tissue necrosis
Mother	unclear, possibly some uterine disorder but NOT death in childbirth or maternal murder of infants which are listed separately
Murthered	extra-judicial homicide or murder
Noli me tangere	spreading skin ulceration, including those caused by carcinomas
Overlaid	accidental smothering of an infant by rolling over them in sleep
Palsie	paralysis, weakness, or other problems using muscles, including tremors
Plague	disease caused by y. pestis
Planet or Planet-struck	stricken with paralysis or other physical disorder attributed to astrological influences
Plurisie	inflammation of tissue lining the lungs
Purples	any disease causing a dark red or purple rash
Quinsie	complication of tonsillitis, infection spreads beyond tonsils
Rash	death with a skin rash as a primary symptom
Rheumatism	pain or stiffness in the joints and muscles
Rickets	weakening of bones because of prolonged vitamin D deficiency
Rising of the Lights	difficulty breathing or a choking sensation
Running of the Reins	gonorrhea or other sexually transmitted infection, sometimes including syphilis
Rupture	hernia
Scald Head	ringworm or similar scalp infection
Scalded	burnt by hot water
Scarlet Fever	a strep infection, or similar infection causing a scarlet rash
Sciatica	hip or more general joint pain, sometimes substituted as a diagnosis for syphilis
Scowring	probably purging bowels
Scurvy	disease caused by vitamin C deficiency
Shingles	severe neurological pain and skin infection caused by the reactivation of dormant chickenpox virus in the body
Smallpox	highly deadly and infectious disease, still known today as smallpox but now preventable by vaccines
Sores	pain in the body, often accompanied by broken or raw skin
Spleen	death attributed to malfunction of the spleen organ, possibly including fits of temper
Spotted-Fever	disease that causes both fever and spots on the skin, including meningococcal minigitis and typhus
St. Anthony's Fire	skin disease or condition characterized by heat and redness
Starved	death from malnutrition or lack of food
Still-born	child born lifeless or with a heartbeat but failing to breathe
Stone	concretion in the body, esp. kidneys, bladder or gallbladder
Stopping of the Stomach	constipation or other blockages in the digestive tract
Strangury	slow and painful urination
Strongullion	an inflammation and swelling of throat glands
Suddenly	sudden death with no other attributable cause
Suicide	death from deliberate self-harm
Surfeit	excess of food or drink
Swelling in the Throat	throat swelling partially or completely shut
Swine-Pox	viral infectious disease that caused skin lesions and was associated with pigs, still extant today
Teeth	infection caused by teething or poor dental hygeine
Thrush	fungal disease characterized by white specks inside the mouth and throat, also lips and tongue
Tympany	morbid swelling or tumor
Tissick	disease characterized by coughing and wheezing; see also asthma, consumption
Twisting of the Guts	probably wrenching pain in the guts
Ulcer	open sore filled with pus or other matter
Vapours	death attributed to gaseous emissions developing within the stomach or other organs
Vomiting	death with vomitting as a primary symptom
Water in the Head	hydrocephalus, or a childhood disease that causes fluid to accumulate in the skull cavity
Wen	lump or tumor under the skin
Wind	death with wind or gas in the digestive tract as a primary symptom
Wolf	malignant or erosive disease that "devours" like a wolf
Worms	disease or condition attributed to a worm in the body
Wounded	death due to wounds suffered from some deliberate or accidental event