typhoid

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtaɪ.fɔɪd/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from typhus and the suffix -oid (“like”),^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek -οειδής (-oeidḗs, “like”).^[6] Typhus is a New Latin adaptation of Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “smoke, vapour; stupor from fever”).^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, resembling typhus, used of fevers marked by delirious stupor (1800 in the OED, Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster).^{[9][3][4][10]}

Semantic evolution

Typhoid fever (1845) was named for a disease with intestinal inflammation that was formerly thought to be a variety of typhus;^[9][3][4] researchers confirmed it as a different disease about 1880.^[4] The noun typhoid is a shortening of typhoid fever, recorded from 1861.^[3][4][10] Typhus is caused by Rickettsia bacteria and spread by fleas and other vermin, while typhoid is caused by Salmonella bacteria and spread through human waste.^[4] Typhoid Mary, the nickname of Mary Mallon, a cook who spread typhoid in the United States, dates from 1909 and is used of anyone who spreads disease or harm.^[9][4]

Timeline

• 1800 – adjective, resembling typhus.^[9][3][10]
• 1845 – typhoid fever.^[9][3]
• 1861 – noun, typhoid fever.^[3][4][10]
• 1909 – Typhoid Mary.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Typhoid fever, an infectious, often fatal disease caused by a Salmonella bacterium in food or water, marked by fever and intestinal inflammation.
2. A disease of domestic animals resembling human typhus or typhoid.

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or resembling typhoid fever or typhus.

Word family

• antityphoid
• posttyphoid
• pretyphoid
• typhoidin
• typhoidal
• paratyphoid

Related words

• typhus
• typhoid fever
• fume
• -oid

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster