malaria English · revision 178

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /məˈlɛəɹi.ə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ It is [[bor|it|malaria]], contracted from ''mala aria'' “bad air”,^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) from ''mala'', feminine of ''malo'' “bad” (from Latin ''malus''), + ''aria'' “air”.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) It was probably first used by the Italian physician Francisco Torti (1658–1741).^(Etymonline)

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The unwholesome air of marshy districts, once thought to cause intermittent fevers (1740).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1866 the word was used of the disease itself, earlier called ''malaria fever'' (by 1814).^(Etymonline) The disease, now known to be carried by mosquitoes, was once thought to be caused by foul air in marshy districts.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) The word replaced native [[ague]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1740 – “unwholesome air”.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1814 – ''malaria fever''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1829 – figurative uses.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1866 – the disease itself.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An infectious disease with recurring chills and fever, caused by a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Bad or foul air; miasma.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[malarial]]

+ * [[malarious]]

+ * [[malariology]]

+ * [[antimalarial]]

+ * [[falciparum malaria]]

+ * [[vivax malaria]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[miasma]]