Zika

[ zee-kuh ]

noun

1. Zika fever,. an illness caused by a chiefly mosquito-borne virus of the genus Flavivirus , typically characterized by mild fever, rash, and joint pain.
2. the virus that causes this illness; Zika virus.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Zika¹

First recorded in 1950–55, Zika is from the Luganda word zika “overgrown”; the virus was first identified in a rhesus monkey in the Zika Forest in Uganda