typhus English · revision 1121

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtaɪfəs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la-new|typhus]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from [[grc|τῦφος|tr=tûphos|t=smoke, vapour; stupor caused by fever]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''túphein'' “to smoke”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) The name was given to the fever by Boissier de Sauvages in 1760, after Hippocrates' use of the Greek word for a clouded state of mind.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In medicine, an acute infectious fever marked by prostration and a spotted rash (1785).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before the name was adopted the disease was known as pestilential or putrid fever, or by the places where it broke out, such as camp, jail, hospital or ship fever.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) In English the word had earlier meant pride or conceit (1643).^(OED 1989) It is now known to be caused by rickettsias carried by lice, fleas or mites.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1643 – pride, conceit (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1760 – Boissier de Sauvages names the fever.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1785 – the fever, in English.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1789 – ''typhus fever''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of several [[infectious]] diseases caused by [[rickettsia|alt=rickettsias]] carried by lice, fleas or mites, with high fever, severe headache, delirium and a dark red rash.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[typhous]]

+ * [[typhogenic]]

+ * [[typhoid]]

+ * [[murine typhus]]

+ * [[scrub typhus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[typhoon]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary notes that typhus should not be confused with [[typhoid]].^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}