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epidemiology

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 23:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌɛpɪdiːmiˈɒləd͡ʒi/[1]
  • US: /ˌɛpɪˌdimiˈɑləd͡ʒi/, /ˌɛpɪˌdɛm-/[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἐπιδήμιος (epidḗmios, “among the people; epidemic”) with the combining form -logy, in the OED's and Etymonline's analysis.[2][3][4] The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English start instead from ἐπιδημία (epidēmía, “prevalence of a disease”),[5][6] the American Heritage Dictionary from Medieval Latin epidēmia (“an epidemic”),[7] and Dictionary.com from epidemic.[8] The OED compares earlier New Latin epidemiologia (1598 or earlier), French épidémiologie (1803) and German Epidemiologie (1795).[2] The Greek words are formed from ἐπί (epí, “among, upon”) and δῆμος (dêmos, “people, district”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The study of epidemic diseases: 1850, as a heading in the London Journal of Medicine.[2][3] Merriam-Webster dates the word to about 1860, and the Shorter Oxford to the late 19th century.[9][5]

Semantic evolution

At first the word meant only the study of epidemics.[2][3] In later use it widened to the branch of medicine that studies how often diseases and other health conditions occur in populations, how they are distributed and what determines them.[2][5] It also came to mean the pattern of occurrence of one disease, the factors that govern its presence or absence.[9][5]

Timeline

  • 1850 – the study of epidemic diseases.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The branch of medicine that studies the incidence, distribution and control of diseases in populations.[10][9][2][5]
  2. The factors that govern the occurrence and spread of a particular disease: the epidemiology of tuberculosis.[9][5]

Word family

  • epidemiologic
  • epidemiologically
  • epidemiologist

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins