epidemic
Part of speech: noun
adj
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: epidemiology
medicine
sciences
Etymology: From French épidémique, from épidémie, from Medieval Latin epidēmia, reanalysis of plural Late Latin epidēmia, from Ancient Greek ἐπιδήμιος (epidḗmios), from ἐπί (epí, “upon”) + δῆμος (dêmos, “people”). By surface analysis, epi- (“on”) + demic (“of the people”).
Inflected forms:
form: epidemics
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: epidemick
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: epidemical
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: more epidemic
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most epidemic
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: epidemick
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: epidemical
pos: adj
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: A widespread disease that affects many humans in a population.
pos: noun
examples: At that time, the city [Christiania, now Oslo] was in the grip of a cholera epidemic, and victims were dying at the rate of 60 a day. Bradshaw contracted the disease, and died on September 6 [1853].
gloss: An occurrence of a disease or disorder in a human population at a frequency higher than that expected in a given time period; an episode of outbreak and subsequent high prevalence.
pos: noun
gloss: A heightened occurrence of anything harmful.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
colloquial
examples: Even before the pandemic, the United States surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, said the country was experiencing an “epidemic of loneliness,” driven by the accelerated pace of life and the spread of technology into all of our social interactions.
People are holding coordinated protests across UK towns and cities this weekend against what they call a “climate of fear” on the roads, and an “epidemic” of careless and dangerous driving that is curbing children’s freedoms and putting lives at risk.
gloss: The spreading of an idea or belief amongst a population.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
examples: Lord Avonleigh was at once liberated from his imprisonment, well prepared to be considered, and to consider himself, a martyr to the cause of loyalty; and as the services of the rich nobleman,...his claims to notice and favour were most graciously acknowledged. Accordingly, he returned to his seat in a little fever of royal devotedness—it was the fashionable epidemic; and who coming from Whitehall could be without it?
gloss: Of, related to, or being an epidemic: a widespread outbreak of disease in humans.
pos: adj
examples: The tetany that was epidemic among slaved children was actually the result of severe calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D deficiency caused by chronic malnutrition.
gloss: Like an epidemic: widespread in a bad way.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: Epidemic hysteria occurred upon the incumbent’s reelection.
[In] May, there was, at London and in its neighbourhood, a disease very epidemic, though not fatal, which had some time before been very prevalent both in Italy and Germany.
The major reason for such an examination was to determine if any patterns uncovered seemed to be more epidemic than endemic.
This proportion increased about 5% from 1988 to 1992—hardly a change of epidemic proportions.
This was the stagecoach holdup, and while these encounters were not as epidemic as we like to remember, nonetheless there were numerous bands of "road agents" who lay by the roadside in wait for passengers.
Related words: ecdemic
endemic
pandemic
quademic
tridemic
tripledemic
twindemic
murrain
pestilence
epidemiology
enzootic
epizootic
Derived words: antiepidemic
epicurve
epidemic curve
epidemiclike
iatroepidemic
infodemic
interepidemic
microepidemic
midepidemic
panepidemic
post-epidemic
postepidemic
pre-epidemic
preepidemic
pseudoepidemic
subepidemic
syndemic
virgin soil epidemic
hyperepidemic
ecoepidemic
endemoepidemic
epidemically
epidemicity
nonepidemic
Translations:
lang: Arabic
word: وَبَاء
roman: wabāʔ
lang: Catalan
word: epidèmia
lang: Czech
word: epidemie
lang: Dutch
word: epidemie
lang: Finnish
word: epidemia
lang: French
word: épidémie
lang: Galician
word: epidemia
lang: Greek
word: επιδημία
roman: epidimía
lang: Hungarian
word: járvány
lang: Hungarian
word: epidémia
lang: Irish
word: eipidéim
lang: Japanese
word: エピデミック
roman: epidemikku
lang: Latin
word: luēs
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: epidemi
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: farsott
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: epidemi
lang: Occitan
word: epidemia
lang: Occitan
word: epidèmia
lang: Polish
word: epidemia
lang: Portuguese
word: epidemia
lang: Russian
word: эпиде́мия
roman: epidémija
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: епидѐмија
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: epidèmija
lang: Slovak
word: epidémia
lang: Spanish
word: epidemia
lang: Swedish
word: epidemi
lang: Vietnamese
word: dịch
lang: Welsh
word: epidemig