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.
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
Symptoms of the bubonic plague in humans typically appear within two to eight days after exposure and may include fever, chills, headache, weakness, and swollen lymph nodes.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2025
They carry parasites and diseases such as the bubonic plague, rabies and lyme disease that can be transmitted to people while feeding them.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2025
Cockroaches carry a wide range of diseases and pathogens including bubonic plague, dysentery, hepatitis, hookworms, leprosy, salmonella and polio.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2024
They’d give the land back to Daddy, just so they wouldn’t have to worry about an outbreak of bubonic plague or orchard-inhabiting alligators again.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
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.
