the.com/vitiligo

means A condition where patches of skin lose their melanin-producing cells, leaving irregular areas of lighter or white skin.

from From Latin vitium, meaning 'fault' or 'blemish' — the same root that gives us 'vice' and 'vitiate.' Roman physicians used vitiligo to describe various skin blemishes generally, not this specific condition; the word narrowed to its current meaning over centuries of medical usage. Some have floated a link to vitulus (calf), fancying a resemblance to a calf's mottled hide, but this is folk etymology, not established fact — the 'fault/blemish' root is the one scholars back.