disease Definition
dis·ease (di zēz′)
noun
- any departure from health; illness in general
- a particular destructive process in an organ or organism, with a specific cause and characteristic symptoms; specif., an illness; ailment
- any harmful or destructive condition, as of society
Etymology: ME disese, inconvenience, trouble, sickness < OFr desaise, discomfort < des-, dis- + aise, ease
transitive verb -·eased′, -·eas′·ing
to cause disease in; infect or derange: usually in pp.
Etymology: ME disesen < OFr desaaisier < the n.
disease Related Forms
disease Synonyms
disease
n.
Antonyms
Specific diseases include --- diseases affecting various organs or the body generally: cancer, ulcer, shock, paresis, paralysis, focal infection, atrophy, psittacosis, chicken pox, cholera, diphtheria, malaria, measles, German measles, mumps, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, Legionnaires' disease, rabies, scarlet fever, scarlatina, smallpox, toxic-shock syndrome, tularemia, typhoid fever, typhus, leprosy, hepatitis, yellow fever; venereal or social diseases: gonorrhea, clap*, dose*; herpes, AIDS, chlamydia, genital warts, syphilis, French disease*, maladie anglaise* (French), English disease*, pox*; diseases affecting the brain and nervous system: encephalitis, sleeping sickness, meningitis, aphasia, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, hemiplegia, Reye's syndrome, brain tumor, poliomyelitis, polio, infantile paralysis, sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, multiple sclerosis, MS, delirium tremens, D.T.'s*; diseases affecting the respiratory tract: bronchitis, rhinitis, common cold, sniffles*, cough, influenza, flu, Asian flu, Hong Kong flu, laryngitis, pleurisy, viral pneumonia, pulmonary pneumonia, phthisis, tonsillitis, emphysema, strep throat*, sinusitis, croup, tuberculosis, TB, whooping cough; diseases affecting the digestive system: acidosis, ulcer, appendicitis, Bright's disease, colitis, diabetes, diarrhea, constipation, diverticulitis, dysentery, anasarca, dropsy, gravel, jaundice; diseases affecting the circulatory system: angina pectoris, high blood pressure, hypertension, cystic fibrosis, hemorrhage, hardening of the arteries, hypertension, heart murmur, palpitations, arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis, coronary thrombosis; skin diseases: athlete's foot, boils, warts, eczema, psoriasis, erysipelas, dermatitis, scabies, ringworm, trench foot, acne; diseases of the joints and muscles: arthritis, osteoporosis, bends, cramp, charley horse*, crick*; rheumatism, lumbago; diseases of the eye: cataracts, glaucoma, conjunctivitis, pink eye, trachoma; allergies: hay fever, rose fever, asthma, hives; diseases of the endocrine glands: hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, progeria, hyperpituitarism, hypopituitarism; diseases common to animals and birds: anthrax, black leg, blind staggers, bloat, cholera, colic, distemper, encephalitis, hydrophobia, rabies, heaves, hoof and mouth disease, glanders, milk sickness, pneumonitis, roup, spavin, trichomoniasis; diseases common to plants: blight, rot, rust, scale, smut, wilt;
disease may apply generally to any deviation of the body from its normal or healthy state, or it may refer to a particular disorder with a specific cause and characteristic symptoms; condition and affection refer to a disorder of a specific organ or part a heart condition, an affection of the spleen; malady usually refers to a deep-seated chronic disease, frequently one that is ultimately fatal; ailment refers to a chronic, annoying disorder of whatever degree of seriousness the minor ailments of the aged
disease Usage Examples
Converse of object
- transmit: Even tho condoms are not 100 per cent safe, they do protect you against sexually transmitted diseases.
- inherit: Preimplantation genetic diagnosis ( PGD ) has great potential for preventing inherited genetic diseases.
- treat: Targets for drugs designed to treat many human diseases will often be such human proteins.
- prevent: This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
- cure: This spell will also cure any diseases the subject might have at the time.
Adjective modifier
- coronary: Being at high risk is a latent stage of coronary heart disease.
- infectious: By contrast, there were no unfilled posts in renal medicine or infectious diseases.
- cardiovascular: The study brings together a multi-disciplinary team who have worked together over the last decade studying the risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
- chronic: Up to 6,000 deaths a year from chronic obstructive lung diseases may be related to work.
- respiratory: Acid rain has also been linked to respiratory diseases in children.
- inflammatory: Identification of genetic risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease in the Scottish population.
Modifies a noun
- outbreak: Table 1 illustrates how significant disease outbreaks might affect an industry.
- prevention: June 2005 To use the data to investigate the economics of cardiovascular disease prevention in primary care.
- progression: Treatment must be initiated rapidly as disease progression can be swift.
Noun used with modifier
- heart: Being at high risk is a latent stage of coronary heart disease.
- liver: Obesity seems to increase the risk of advanced liver disease in heavy drinkers.
- kidney: Treatment for kidney disease focuses on blood pressure control using ACE inhibitors.
- lung: Do you suffer from liver, kidney or lung disease?
- mouth: These areas are invasive species, foot and mouth disease and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
- bowel: Identification of genetic risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease in the Scottish population.
Browse dictionary entries near disease
- ‹ disdainful
- ‹ disdain
- ‹ discussion
- ‹ discussed
- ‹ discussant
- ‹ discuss
- ‹ discus
- ‹ discursive
- ‹ discriminatory
- ‹ discriminator
- diseased ›
- disembark ›
- disembarrass ›
- disembodied ›
- disembody ›
- disembogue ›
- disembowel ›
- disemployed ›
- disenable ›
- disenchant ›

