epidemic
eh-puih-DEM-ik
/ˌɛpɪˈdɛmɪk/
A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.
Refers specifically to a rapid increase in cases above what is normally expected in a population within a localized geographic area.
The story behind the word. From Greek 'epidēmia', meaning 'a stay in a place' or 'a disease visiting a people'. Hippocrates used 'epidēmios' to describe symptoms that came upon a town suddenly, distinguishing them from ordinary illnesses.
Word relationships
- outbreak: An outbreak is localized and usually smaller in scale than a full epidemic.
- plague: Plague carries a emotional, historical connotation of extreme devastation and high mortality.
- endemic: Endemic describes a baseline presence rather than a sudden spike in disease cases.
Commonly confused with
- pandemic: An epidemic is restricted to a region or country, while a pandemic spreads across multiple continents or worldwide.
Word family
- epidemiology (noun): The branch of medicine dealing with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases.
- epidemiologist (noun): A scientist who studies patterns of disease in human populations.
- epidemiological (adjective): Relating to the study of disease patterns.
Collocations
- epidemic proportions
- flu epidemic
- contain an epidemic
- epidemic wave
Idioms & expressions
- of epidemic proportions
Example sentences
- "The cholera epidemic that struck London in 1854 prompted John Snow to map out infected water pumps in Soho." Historical epidemiology
- "Health authorities acted swiftly to contain the opioid epidemic through expanded addiction treatment services." Modern public health
Memory hook
EPI-demic hits UPON (epi) the DEMOS (people) like an unexpected wave. Epi (upon) + Demos (people) = Disease crashing upon the town.
When not to use
Do not use for diseases that are constantly present at low background levels (use endemic) or spread globally across continents (use pandemic).
Fun facts
- In Homeric Greek, 'epidemos' simply meant a person who was currently living in their native town, with no medical context at all.
Explore more words
epidemiology, proliferation, rapid, fatality, sporadic, endemic
Also appears in
Take your vocabulary further with LangBlitz
Our English vocabulary app: FSRS spaced repetition, 5,000+ curated words across 119 topic groups, CEFR A1 to C2. Explore your mastery with the beautiful Vocabulary World feature.