ENGLISH
REFERENCE

malaria

n.
US //məˈɫɛɹiə// UK //mælˈeəɹiə// malar·ia
  1. 1 the disease (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Medicine

    a serious illness that causes a high fever and shaking, spread by mosquitoes in hot countries.

    a parasitic disease characterised by periodic paroxysms of chills and fever, transmitted via the bite of infected mosquitoes.

    Example

    Travelers to certain tropical regions must take medicine to prevent malaria.

    Example

    Public health initiatives have focused on distributing insecticide-treated bed nets to reduce the transmission of malaria in endemic regions.

    Usage

    Usually treated as an uncountable noun when referring to the disease in general.

  2. 2 bad air (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Archaic

    an old belief that bad or smelly air from swamps caused sickness.

    the historical theory of miasma or 'bad air' arising from marshes, formerly believed to be the cause of fevers.

    Example

    Long ago, people thought the malaria from the damp marshes made them ill.

    Example

    Before the discovery of parasites, nineteenth-century physicians often attributed seasonal fevers to the noxious malaria emanating from stagnant waters.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is archaic; modern speakers only use the word to refer to the specific medical condition.
    • miasma
Origin

Borrowed from Italian malaria, formed from mal- (“bad”) and aria (“air”). Introduced into English by the Scottish geologist John MacCulloch (1773–1835). Displaced native Old English unlyft (literally “bad air”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 20, 2026