From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Neuralgia \Neu*ral"gi*a\, n. [NL., from Gr. ney^ron nerve + ?
pain. See nerve.] (Med.)
A disease, the chief symptom of which is a very acute pain,
exacerbating or intermitting, which follows the course of a
nervous branch, extends to its ramifications, and seems
therefore to be seated in the nerve. It seems to be
independent of any structural lesion. --Dunglison.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
neuralgia
n 1: acute spasmodic pain along the course of one or more nerves
[syn: neuralgia, neuralgy]