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epidemic. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
epidemic, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
epidemic in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Alternative forms
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”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌɛpɪˈdɛmɪk/
- Rhymes: -ɛmɪk
- Hyphenation: ep‧i‧dem‧ic
Noun
epidemic (plural epidemics)
- A widespread disease that affects many individuals in a population.
1950 January, “Notes and News: George Bradshaw's Grave”, in Railway Magazine, pages 61–62: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].
- (epidemiology) An occurrence of a disease or disorder in a population at a frequency higher than that expected in a given time period; an episode of outbreak and subsequent high prevalence.
- (by extension, colloquial) A heightened occurrence of anything harmful.
2022 April 20, John Leland, quoting Vivek Murthy, “How Loneliness Is Damaging Our Health”, in The New York Times, →ISSN: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.
2023 September 29, Laura Laker, “UK protests planned amid ‘epidemic’ of dangerous driving”, in The Guardian, →ISSN: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.
- (figurative) The spreading of an idea or belief amongst a population.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. , volume III, London: Richard Bentley, , (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, pages 98–99: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?
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
widespread disease
- Afrikaans: epidemie (af)
- Albanian: epidemi (sq) f
- Arabic: وَبَاء (ar) m (wabāʔ), أَوْبِئَة m pl (ʔawbiʔa)
- Armenian: համաճարակ (hy) (hamačarak)
- Azerbaijani: epidemiya
- Belarusian: эпідэ́мія f (epidémija), по́шасць f (póšascʹ)
- Bengali: মহামারী (mohamari)
- Bulgarian: епиде́мия (bg) f (epidémija)
- Burmese: ကပ်နာ (my) (kapna)
- Carpathian Rusyn: епіде́мія f (epidémija)
- Catalan: epidèmia (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 流行病 (zh) (liúxíngbìng), 瘟疫 (zh) (wēnyì)
- Czech: epidemie (cs) f
- Danish: epidemi (da) c
- Dutch: epidemie (nl) f
- Estonian: epideemia (et), taud (et)
- Finnish: kulkutauti (fi), epidemia (fi)
- French: épidémie (fr) f
- Friulian: epidemie f
- Galician: andazo (gl) m, epidemia (gl) f
- Georgian: ეპიდემია (eṗidemia)
- German: Epidemie (de) f, Seuche (de) f
- Greek: επιδημία (el) f (epidimía)
- Ancient: ἐπιδήμιος ? (epidḗmios)
- Hebrew: מַגֵּפָה (he) f (magefá)
- Hindi: महामारी (hi) f (mahāmārī), वबा (hi) f (vabā)
- Hungarian: népbetegség (hu), járvány (hu)
- Icelandic: faraldur (is) m, farsótt (is) f
- Indonesian: wabah (id), epidemi (id)
- Irish: eipidéim f
- Italian: epidemia (it) f
- Japanese: 疫 (ja) (eyami), 疫病 (ja) (ekibyō), 流行病 (ja) (ryūkōbyō), 伝染病 (ja) (densenbyō)
- Kazakh: эпидемия (épidemiä), індет (ındet)
- Khmer: ជម្ងឺរាល (cumngɨɨ riəl)
- Korean: 유행병 (ko) (yuhaengbyeong), 류행병 (ko) (ryuhaengbyeong) (North Korea)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: ئاھۆ (aho), پەتا (peta)
- Kyrgyz: эпидемия (ky) (epidemiya)
- Lao: ໂລກລະບາດ (lōk la bāt), ພະຍຸ (pha nyu)
- Latin: luēs f
- Latvian: epidēmija f
- Lithuanian: epidemija f
- Macedonian: епидемија f (epidemija)
- Malay: wabak (ms), epidemi
- Malayalam: മഹാമാരി (ml) (mahāmāri)
- Maori: urutā, mate urutā
- Middle Korean: 시긧벼ᇰ〯 (sìkùy-s pyěng)
- Mongolian: тахал (mn) (taxal)
- Moroccan Amazigh: ⴰⵟⵟⴰⵏ m (aṭṭan)
- Navajo: naałniih
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: farsott (no) m or f, epidemi (no) m
- Nynorsk: epidemi m
- Persian: همهگیر (hame-gir), مرگامرگی (margâmargi), اپیدمی (fa) (epidemi), وبا (fa) (vabâ)
- Polish: epidemia (pl) f
- Portuguese: epidemia (pt) f
- Punjabi: ਵਬਾਅ ? (vabāa)
- Romanian: epidemie (ro) f
- Russian: эпиде́мия (ru) f (epidémija)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: по̏ша̄ст f, епидѐмија f, редња f
- Roman: pȍšāst f, epidèmija (sh) f, rednja (sh) f
- Slovak: epidémia (sk) f
- Slovene: epidemija (sl) f
- Sotho: sewa class 7/8
- Spanish: epidemia (es) f
- Swahili: epidemiki ?
- Swedish: epidemi (sv) c, farsot (sv) c
- Tagalog: salot (tl), epidemya
- Tajik: эпидемия (epidemiya), вабо (vabo)
- Tatar: эпидемия (epidemiyä)
- Thai: โรคระบาด (th) (rôok-rá-bàat)
- Turkish: salgın (tr)
- Turkmen: epidemiýa
- Ukrainian: епіде́мія f (epidémija), по́шесть f (póšestʹ)
- Urdu: وبا f (vabā)
- Uzbek: epidemiya (uz)
- Vietnamese: bệnh dịch
- Walloon: minêye (wa) f, piyintche (wa) f
- Welsh: epidemig m
- Yiddish: עפּידעמיע f (epidemye)
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occurrence of such disease
Translations to be checked
Adjective
epidemic (comparative more epidemic, superlative most epidemic)
- Like or having to do with an epidemic; widespread.
- Synonyms: common, ubiquitous; see also Thesaurus:widespread
- Antonym: endemic
Epidemic hysteria occurred upon the incumbent’s reelection.
1852, Annals of influenza or epidemic catarrhal fever in Great Britain, page 76:[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.
1986, Gerald F. Pyle, The Diffusion of Influenza: Patterns and Paradigms, →ISBN, page 123:The major reason for such an examination was to determine if any patterns uncovered seemed to be more epidemic than endemic.
2003, James C. Howell, Preventing & Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Comprehensive Framework, SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 19:This proportion increased about 5% from 1988 to 1992—hardly a change of epidemic proportions.
2013, Frederick Allen, A Decent, Orderly Lynching: The Montana Vigilantes, page 8: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.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
See also
Anagrams
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French épidémique. By surface analysis, epidemie + -ic.
Adjective
epidemic m or n (feminine singular epidemică, masculine plural epidemici, feminine and neuter plural epidemice)
- epidemic
Declension