AIDS definition | Dictionary.com

AIDS

[eydz]

–noun Pathology.

a disease of the immune system characterized by increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections, as pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and candidiasis, to certain cancers, as Kaposi's sarcoma, and to neurological disorders: caused by a retrovirus and transmitted chiefly through blood or blood products that enter the body's bloodstream, esp. by sexual contact or contaminated hypodermic needles.

Compare AIDS virus.

Origin:
1982; a(cquired) i(mmune) d(eficiency) s(yndrome)

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aid

[eyd]

–verb (used with object)

1.	to provide support for or relief to; help: to aid the homeless victims of the fire.

2.	to promote the progress or accomplishment of; facilitate.

–verb (used without object)

3.	to give help or assistance.

–noun

4.	help or support; assistance.

5.	a person or thing that aids or furnishes assistance; helper; auxiliary.

aids, Manège.

a.	Also called natural aids. the means by which a rider communicates with and controls a horse, as the hands, legs, voice, and shifts in weight.

b.	Also called artificial aids. the devices by means of which a rider increases control of a horse, as spurs, whip, and martingale.

7.	aide-de-camp.

8.	foreign aid.

9.	a payment made by feudal vassals to their lord on special occasions.

10.	English History. (after 1066) any of several revenues received by a king in the Middle Ages from his vassals and other subjects, limited by the Magna Charta to specified occasions.

Origin:
1375–1425; (n.) late ME ayde < AF, OF aide, n. deriv. of aid(i)er < L adjūtāre to help (freq. of adjuvāre), equiv. to ad- ad- + -jū- help + -t- freq. suffix + -āre inf. suffix; (v.) < AF, OF aid(i)er < L, as above

Related forms:

aider, noun

aidful, adjective

aidless, adjective

Synonyms:
1. See help. 2. abet, back, foster, advance. 4. succor; relief; subsidy, grant.

Antonyms:
2. hinder, frustrate.

Usage note:
Although the nouns aid and aide both have among their meanings “an assisting person,” the spelling aide is increasingly used for the sense “helper, assistant”: One of the senator's aides is calling. Aide in military use is short for aide-de-camp. It is also the spelling in nurse's aide.

AID

[eyd]

–noun U.S. Government.

the division of the United States International Development Cooperation Agency that coordinates the various foreign aid programs with U.S. foreign policy: established in 1961.

Origin:
A(gency for) I(nternational) D(evelopment)

foreign aid

–noun

economic, technical, or military aid given by one nation to another for purposes of relief and rehabilitation, for economic stabilization, or for mutual defense.

Also called aid.

Origin:
1955–60

Related forms:

foreign-aid, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To AIDS

aid (ād)

intr. & tr.v. aid·ed, aid·ing, aids
To help or furnish with help, support, or relief. See Synonyms at help.
n.

The act or result of helping; assistance.
1. An assistant or helper.
2. A device that assists: visual aids such as slides.
3. A hearing aid.
An aide or aide-de-camp.
A monetary payment to a feudal lord by a vassal in medieval England.

[Middle English aiden, from Old French aider, from Latin adiūtāre, frequentative of adiuvāre, to help : ad-, to; see ad- in Indo-European roots + iuvāre, to help.]
aid'er n.

AIDS (ādz)

n. A severe immunological disorder caused by the retrovirus HIV, resulting in a defect in cell-mediated immune response that is manifested by increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections and to certain rare cancers, especially Kaposi's sarcoma. It is transmitted primarily by exposure to contaminated body fluids, especially blood and semen.

[a(cquired) i(mmune) d(eficiency) s(yndrome).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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AIDS [(aydz)]

Acronym for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a fatal disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Believed to have originated in Africa, AIDS has become an epidemic, infecting tens of millions of people worldwide. The virus, which is transmitted from one individual to another through the exchange of body fluids (such as blood or semen), attacks white blood cells, thereby causing the body to lose its capacity to ward off infection. As a result, many AIDS patients die of opportunistic infections that strike their debilitated bodies. AIDS first appeared in the United States in 1981, primarily among homosexuals and intravenous drug users who shared needles, but throughout the world, it is also transmitted by heterosexual contact. Today, scientists are hopeful that AIDS can be managed by new drugs, such as protease inhibitors, and need not be fatal. (See AZT.)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Language Translation for : AIDS

Spanish: sida,

German: Aids,

Japanese: エイズ

More Translations »

AIDS

/aydz/ n. Short for A* Infected Disk Syndrome (`A*' is a glob pattern that matches, but is not limited to, Apple or Amiga), this condition is quite often the result of practicing unsafe SEX. See virus, worm, Trojan horse, virgin.

Jargon File 4.2.0
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AIDS

1982, acronym formed from acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Main Entry: AIDS
Pronunciation: 'Adz
Function: noun
: a disease of the human immune system that is characterized cytologically especially by a reduction inthe numbers of CD4-bearing helper T cells to 20 percent or less of normal thereby rendering the subject highly vulnerable to life-threatening conditions (as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) and to somethat become life-threatening (as Kaposi's sarcoma) and that is caused by infection with HIV commonly transmitted in infected blood especially during illicit intravenous drug use and in bodilysecretions (as semen) during sexual intercourse called also acquired immune deficiency syndrome, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

AIDS (ādz)
n.
A severe immunological disorder caused by HIV, transmitted primarily through venereal routes or by exposure to contaminated blood or blood products, resulting in a defect in cell-mediated immune response manifested by increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections and to certain rare cancers, especially Kaposi's sarcoma.

AIDS (ādz) Pronunciation Key
Short for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. An infectious disease of the immune system caused by an human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AIDS is characterized by a decrease in the number of helper T cells, which causes a severe immunodeficiency that leaves the body susceptible to a variety of potentially fatal infections. The virus is transmitted in infected bodily fluids such as semen and blood, as through sexual intercourse, the use of contaminated hypodermic syringes, and placental transfer between mother and fetus. Although a cure or vaccine is not yet available, a number of antiviral drugs can decrease the viral load and subsequent infections in patients with AIDS.

AIDS jargon
/aydz/ A* Infected Disk Syndrome ("A*" is a glob pattern that matches, but is not limited to, Apple Computer), this condition is quite often the result of practicing unsafe SEX.
See virus, worm, Trojan horse, virgin.
[The Jargon File]
(1995-04-13)

AIDS
acquired immune deficiency syndrome

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