COVID-19

[ koh-vid-nahyn-teen ]

noun

, Pathology.

1. coronavirus disease 2019: a potentially severe, primarily respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus and characterized by fever, coughing, and shortness of breath. In some people, the disease also damages major organs, as the heart or kidneys.

Spelling Note

COVID-19 (all capital letters) is the spelling used internationally by scientific and medical professionals and their related organizations, which corresponds with the American convention of capitalizing an acronym such as AIDS or SARS. However, Covid-19 (spelled like a proper noun with an initial capital letter followed by lowercase letters) is the less obtrusive form used by several prominent media, such as The New York Times and The Times of London. And it is not uncommon to see both forms shortened to just COVID or Covid, respectively. The lowercase form covid is considerably less common in edited text.

Word History and Origins

Origin of COVID-19¹

Short for co(rona)vi(rus) d(isease) (20)19, the year in which the outbreak of the disease was first identified; so named by the World Health Organization in 2020