Word
malaria
Phoneticsmalar·ia
US/məˈɫɛɹiə/
UK/mælˈeəɹiə/
Definitions
01the disease
n. a serious illness that causes a high fever and shaking, spread by mosquitoes in hot countries.
n. a parasitic disease characterised by periodic paroxysms of chills and fever, transmitted via the bite of infected mosquitoes.
“Travelers to certain tropical regions must take medicine to prevent malaria.”
“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.
02bad air
n. an old belief that bad or smelly air from swamps caused sickness.
n. the historical theory of miasma or 'bad air' arising from marshes, formerly believed to be the cause of fevers.
“Long ago, people thought the malaria from the damp marshes made them ill.”
“Before the discovery of parasites, nineteenth-century physicians often attributed seasonal fevers to the noxious malaria emanating from stagnant waters.”
Archaic
Teaching tip
This sense is archaic; modern speakers only use the word to refer to the specific medical condition.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“Since last month, six people are known to have caught malaria tropica – the most dangerous form of the disease – in connection with their work at the airport.” Etymology
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.