adjective
- Also ep·i·dem·i·cal. (of a disease) affecting many persons at the same time, and spreading from person to person in a locality where the disease is not permanently prevalent.
- extremely prevalent; widespread.
noun
- a temporary prevalence of a disease.
- a rapid spread or increase in the occurrence of something: an epidemic of riots.
adjective
- (esp of a disease) attacking or affecting many persons simultaneously in a community or area
noun
- a widespread occurrence of a diseasean influenza epidemic
- a rapid development, spread, or growth of something, esp something unpleasantan epidemic of strikes
1757, from epidemic (adj.); earlier epideme (see epidemy). An Old English noun for this (persisting in Middle English) was man-cwealm.
c.1600, from French épidémique, from épidemié “an epidemic disease,” from Medieval Latin epidemia, from Greek epidemia “prevalence of an epidemic disease” (especially the plague), from epi “among, upon” (see epi-) + demos “people, district” (see demotic).
adj.
- Spreading rapidly and extensively by infection and affecting many individuals in an area or population at the same time, as of a disease or illness.
n.
- An outbreak or unusually high occurrence of a disease or illness in a population or area.
- An outbreak of a disease or illness that spreads rapidly among individuals in an area or population at the same time. See also endemic pandemic.
A contagious disease that spreads rapidly and widely among the population in an area. Immunization and quarantine are two of the methods used to control an epidemic.