influenza

[ in-floo-en-zuh ]
See synonyms for influenza on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Pathology. an acute, commonly epidemic disease, occurring in several forms, caused by numerous rapidly mutating viral strains and characterized by respiratory symptoms and general prostration.: Compare flu.

  2. Veterinary Pathology. an acute, contagious disease occurring in horses and swine, characterized by fever, depression, and catarrhal inflammations of the eyes, nasal passages, and bronchi, and caused by a virus.

Origin of influenza

1
1735–45; <Italian <Medieval Latin influentiainfluence

Other words from influenza

  • in·flu·en·zal, adjective
  • in·flu·en·za·like, adjective
  • post·in·flu·en·zal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use influenza in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for influenza

influenza

/ (ˌɪnflʊˈɛnzə) /


noun
  1. a highly contagious and often epidemic viral disease characterized by fever, prostration, muscular aches and pains, and inflammation of the respiratory passages: Also called: grippe, informal flu

Origin of influenza

1
C18: from Italian, literally: influence, hence, incursion, epidemic (first applied to influenza in 1743)

Derived forms of influenza

  • influenzal, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for influenza

influenza

[ ĭn′flōō-ĕn ]


  1. A highly contagious infectious disease that is caused by any of various viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae and is characterized by fever, respiratory symptoms, fatigue, and muscle pain. It commonly occurs in epidemics, one of which killed 20 million people between 1917 and 1919.

word history

Since ancient times, influenza has periodically swept the world. Until recently, people could not tell how this illness, which we call the flu, could spread so widely. Before people knew that organisms cause disease, they thought the stars influenced the spread of influenza. Influenza comes ultimately from the Latin word influentia, meaning “influence of the stars.” Today, however, the stars are no longer blamed for the flu. Inhaling influenza viruses causes the spread of the illness.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for influenza

influenza

[ (in-flooh-en-zuh) ]


Commonly called the flu; an acute and infectious disease of the respiratory system caused by a virus and characterized by fever, muscle pain, headache, and inflammation of the mucous membranes in the respiratory tract.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.