COVID-19

Also Co·vid-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

Example Sentences

The narrator of Patricia Lockwood’s novel comes mentally unstuck during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It backed its organic sales growth forecast of 6% to 7% when including Covid-19 testing-related sales.

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The K-beauty trend took off in Los Angeles and across the country during COVID-19 when people were locked at home, online, thinking about self-care and exploring alternatives to well-known brands, said Sarah Chung Park, the founder and chief executive of Landing International, an L.A.-based company that connects K-beauty brands to American retailers.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Inflation was raging, and Nevada was still suffering an economic hangover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Inflation surged in the months during the COVID-19 pandemic and people had even more cause to worry about how much they would need to retire.

Read more on MarketWatch

When To Use

What is COVID-19? 

COVID-19 is a highly infectious respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus. The disease was discovered in China in December 2019 and then spread around the world, causing an unprecedented public health crisis.For health, safety, and medical emergencies or updates on the novel coronavirus pandemic, please visit the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and WHO (World Health Organization).What are some variants of COVID-19?

• Covid-19



• covid-19



• COVID



• covid