Etymology
Origin of bubonic
Explanation
Anything bubonic has to do with inflamed lymph nodes. Symptoms of the bubonic plague include painful, hugely swollen nodes. We've got lymph nodes all over our body, including in the groin area — and the word bubonic derives from the Greek boubon, "groin." The word was commonly used for any swelling of the infection-fighting nodes until the 1820s, when it came to almost universally refer to the bubonic plague. Before antibiotics, this highly infectious disease killed up to 90 percent of those who were infected.
Vocabulary lists containing bubonic
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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Too Bright to See
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Struggle in Medieval Europe, Lessons 3–5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The bacterium Yersinia pestis, which can cause pneumonic and bubonic plague, has been identified from time to time in Siberia, linked to exposure to vermin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Earlier research had shown that ancient strains of Yersinia pestis were missing some of the genetic features that eventually allowed bubonic plague to spread efficiently through fleas and rodent hosts.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
In few other realms of history has the contribution of laboratory science been so revolutionary as in the study of the bubonic plague.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
More than 80% of plague cases in the U.S. have been in the bubonic form, from which patients will develop swollen, painful lymph nodes called buboes, according to the CDC.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025
Smallpox, measles, influenza, typhus, bubonic plague, and other infectious diseases endemic in Europe played a decisive role in European conquests, by decimating many peoples on other continents.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
