English
epidemic
Epidemic comes from Medieval Latin epidēmia ‘epidemic diseases’, and goes back to Ancient Greek ἐπιδήμιος ‘among the people’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐπιδήμιοςepidḗmios‘among the people’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500epidēmia‘epidemic diseases’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentépidémie
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentépidémique
- Englishearliest quotation 1834epidemic
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐπιδήμιοςepidḗmios‘among the people’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500epidēmia‘epidemic diseases’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentépidémie
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentépidémique
- Englishearliest quotation 1834epidemic
Earliest quotation: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Francesca Carrara. […]: “Lord Avonleigh was at once liberated from his imprisonment,…”
A compound of ἐπί ‘upon’ + δῆμος ‘people’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep- ‘to grab, snatch, get’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi ‘on’
Proto-Hellenic *epí
Ancient Greek ἐπί ‘upon’
Every English word from Ancient Greek ἐπιδήμιος
Today it means
noun A widespread disease that affects many humans in a population.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἐπιδήμιος / epidemic