Word
epidemiology
Phoneticsepi·demi·ol·o·gy
US/ˌɛpəˌdɛmiˈɑɫədʒi/
UK/ˌɛpɪdˌɛmɪˈɒlədʒi/
Definition
n. the study of how diseases spread and how to control them in large groups of people.
n. the branch of medicine dealing with the incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health.
Examples
“She decided to study epidemiology to help prevent future pandemics.”
“Advances in epidemiology allow health officials to track the source of food poisoning outbreaks within hours.”
“Modern epidemiology relies heavily on statistical modeling to predict how a virus might mutate as it moves through a population with varying levels of immunity.”
Examples
simple
“She decided to study epidemiology to help prevent future pandemics.”
contextual
“Advances in epidemiology allow health officials to track the source of food poisoning outbreaks within hours.”
complex
“Modern epidemiology relies heavily on statistical modeling to predict how a virus might mutate as it moves through a population with varying levels of immunity.”
Usage
Often used in academic or medical contexts; frequently paired with 'field of' or 'study of'.
Real-World Examples
“The virus is now present in seven provinces “covering a very vast geographic area”, said Dr Olivier le Polain, Unit Head for Epidemiology and Analytics for Response at WHO .” “The cases were also thoroughly investigated by the state’s epidemiology team, and both individuals tested positive for measles, she added.” Etymology
From Late Latin epidemia + -logy. See epidemic for more.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/epidemiology