epidemic

English

Alternative forms

• epidemick (obsolete)
• epidemical (adjective) (obsolete)

Etymology

From French épidémique, from épidémie, from Latin epidemia, from Ancient Greek ἐπιδήμιος (epidḗmios), from ἐπί (epí, “upon”) + δῆμος (dêmos, “people”). Surface analysis epi- (“on”) +‎ demic (“of the people”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɛpɪˈdɛmɪk/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ep‧i‧dem‧ic

Noun

epidemic (plural epidemics)

1. A widespread disease that affects many individuals in a population.
2. (epidemiology) An occurrence of a disease or disorder in a population at a frequency higher than that expected in a given time period.

Antonyms

• endemic

Derived terms

• antiepidemic
• epidemiclike
• hyperepidemic
• iatroepidemic
• infodemic
• interepidemic
• microepidemic
• panepidemic
• preepidemic
• pseudoepidemic
• subepidemic
• syndemic
• virgin fields epidemic

 

Translations

widespread disease

• Afrikaans: epidemie
• Albanian: epidemi (sq) f
• Arabic: وَبَاء‎ (ar) m (wabāʾ), أَوْبِئَة‎ m pl (ʾawbiʾa)
• Armenian: համաճարակ (hy) (hamačarak)
• Azerbaijani: epidemiya
• Belarusian: эпідэ́мія f (epidémija)
• Bengali: মহামারী (môhamarī)
• Bulgarian: епиде́мия (bg) f (epidémija)
• Burmese: ကပ်နာ (my) (kapna)
• Catalan: epidèmia f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 流行病 (zh) (liúxíngbìng), 瘟疫 (zh) (wēnyì)

• Czech: epidemie (cs) f
• Danish: epidemi (da) c
• Dutch: epidemie (nl)
• Estonian: epideemia (et), taud (et)
• Finnish: kulkutauti (fi), epidemia (fi)
• French: épidémie (fr)
• Galician: andazo (gl) m, andaxe 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) (vabā)
• Hungarian: járvány (hu), népbetegség (hu)
• Icelandic: faraldur (is) m, farsótt (is) f
• Indonesian: wabah (id), epidemi (id)
• Irish: eipidéim f
• Japanese: 疫 (ja) (eyami), 疫病 (ja) (ekibyō), 流行病 (ja) (ryūkōbyō), 伝染病 (ja) (densenbyō)
• Kazakh: эпидемия (épïdemïya)
• Khmer: ជម្ងឺរាល (cumngɨɨ riəl)
• Korean: 유행병 (ko) (yuhaengbyeong), 류행병 (ko) (ryuhaengbyeong) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ئاھۆ‎ (ku) (aho), پەتا‎ (ku) (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, epidemi
• Maori: urutā, mate urutā
• Mongolian: тахал (mn) (tahal)
• Navajo: naałniih
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: farsott (no) m or f, epidemi 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, epidemii f pl
• Russian: эпиде́мия (ru) f (epidémija)
• Rusyn: епіде́мія 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
• Spanish: epidemia (es) f
• Swahili: epidemiki
• Swedish: epidemi (sv) c, farsot (sv) c
• Tagalog: salot (tl), epidemya
• Tajik: эпидемия (epidemiya), вабо (vabo)
• Tatar: эпидемия (epidemiya)
• Thai: โรคระบาด (rôok-rá-bàat)
• Turkish: salgın (tr)
• Turkmen: epidemiýa
• Ukrainian: епіде́мія f (epidémija)
• Urdu: وبا‎ (vabā)
• Uzbek: epidemiya (uz)
• Vietnamese: bệnh dịch
• Welsh: epidemig m
• Westrobothnian: gangsjuk f, gangfermels f
• Yiddish: עפּידעמיע‎ f (epidemye)

occurrence of such disease

• Arabic: وَبَاء‎ (ar) m (wabāʾ)
• Catalan: epidèmia f
• Czech: epidemie (cs) f
• Dutch: epidemie (nl)
• Finnish: epidemia (fi)
• French: épidémie (fr)
• Greek: επιδημία (el) f (epidimía)
• Hungarian: járvány (hu)
• Irish: eipidéim f
• Japanese: エピデミック (epidemikku)
• Latin: luēs f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: epidemi m

  Nynorsk: epidemi m

• Polish: epidemia (pl) f
• Portuguese: epidemia (pt) f
• Russian: эпиде́мия (ru) f (epidémija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: епидѐмија f

  Roman: epidèmija (sh) f

• Slovak: epidémia (sk)
• Spanish: epidemia (es) f
• Swedish: epidemi (sv) c
• Vietnamese: dịch (vi)
• Welsh: epidemig m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} epidemio

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} epidemia (it) f, ^{(please verify)} contagio (it) m

Adjective

epidemic (comparative more epidemic, superlative most epidemic)

1. Like or having to do with an epidemic; widespread

   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, Pyle, Gerald F., 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, Howell, James C., 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, Allen, Frederick, 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.

Synonyms

• common, ubiquitous; see also Thesaurus:widespread

Antonyms

• endemic

Derived terms

• ecoepidemic
• endemoepidemic
• epidemically
• epidemicity
• epidemic nephropathy
• epidemic polyarthritis
• epidemic roseola
• hyperepidemic
• nonepidemic

 

Related terms

• ecdemic

Translations

like an epidemic

• Belarusian: эпідэмі́чны (epidemíčny)
• Catalan: epidèmic
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 流行性 (zh) (liúxíngxìng)

• Czech: epidemický
• Dutch: epidemisch (nl)
• Esperanto: epidemia (eo)
• Finnish: epideeminen (fi), kulkutaudinomainen
• French: épidémique (fr)
• German: epidemisch (de)
• Greek: επιδημικός (el) m (epidimikós)
• Hungarian: járványos (hu)
• Irish: eipidéimeach
• Italian: epidemico (it)
• Japanese: 流行性 (ryūkōsei)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: epidemisk

  Nynorsk: epidemisk

• Polish: epidemiczny (pl)
• Portuguese: epidêmico
• Romanian: epidemic (ro) m
• Russian: эпидеми́ческий (ru) (epidemíčeskij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: епидѐмӣјскӣ

  Roman: epidèmījskī (sh)

• Slovak: epidemický (sk)
• Spanish: epidémico (es)
• Ukrainian: епідемі́чний (epidemíčnyj)
• Vietnamese: (thuộc) dịch (vi)
• Yiddish: עפּידעמיש‎ (epidemish)

Related terms

• pandemic
• epidemiology
• endemic

See also

• epizootic
• enzootic

Anagrams

• midpiece