cholera

[kol-er-uh]

noun

Also called Asiatic cholera. Pathology. an acute, infectious disease, endemic in India and China and occasionally epidemic elsewhere, characterized by profuse diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, etc.

Veterinary Pathology. any of several diseases of domesticated animals that are characterized by depression, sleepiness, lack of appetite, and diarrhea.Compare fowl cholera, hog cholera.

Origin of cholera

1600–05 in sense “gastrointestinal disease”; 1800–05 for current sense < Latin: disease caused by bile < Greek choléra; see choler

Related formschol·e·ra·ic

[kol-uh-rey-ik] /ˌkɒl əˈreɪ ɪk/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cholera

Contemporary Examples of cholera

This method works for TB, for cholera, for rabid animals—for just about everything.
The CDC Was Wrong About How to Stop Ebola
Kent Sepkowitz
October 1, 2014
Cholera and typhoid fever are transmitted when I ingest contaminated food or drink.
The CDC Was Wrong About How to Stop Ebola
Kent Sepkowitz
October 1, 2014
When multiple cases of watery diarrhea spread through one village, doctors feared it was cholera.
Fighting Ebola With Nothing but Hope
Abby Haglage
August 27, 2014
Cholera and typhoid were rampant and overseers used pick handles to physically force miners into the shafts.
Turkey's Tragedy and History's Worst Mining Accidents
Emily Shire
May 14, 2014
At the time, New Orleans was a breeding ground for yellow fever and cholera.
The Sacrificial Limbs of New Orleans
Nina Strochlic
March 12, 2014

Historical Examples of cholera

This attack proved to be the cholera, which came near carrying me off.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
In May, 1869, the Gambia was visited by a severe epidemic of cholera.
The History of the First West India Regiment
A. B. Ellis
People are dying of cholera in New York at the rate of 353 a day.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 16, July 16, 1870
Various
Then, too, when our artist friend was with us we were in the grasp of an epidemic of cholera.
Lotus Buds
Amy Carmichael
Then cholera swept our countryside, and we heard she had taken it and died.
Lotus Buds
Amy Carmichael

British Dictionary definitions for cholera

cholera

noun

an acute intestinal infection characterized by severe diarrhoea, cramp, etc: caused by ingestion of water or food contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio commaAlso called: Asiatic cholera, epidemic cholera, Indian cholera

Derived Formscholeroid, adjective

Word Origin for cholera

C14: from Latin, from Greek kholera jaundice, from kholē bile

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cholera

late 14c., "bile, melancholy" (originally the same as choler), from Middle French cholera or directly from Late Latin cholera, from Greek kholera "a type of disease characterized by diarrhea, supposedly caused by choler" (Celsus), from khole "gall, bile," from khloazein "to be green," from khloros (see Chloe). But another sense of khole was "drainpipe, gutter."

Revived 1560s in classical sense as a name for a severe digestive disorder (rarely fatal to adults); and 1704 (especially as cholera morbus), for a highly lethal disease endemic in India, periodically breaking out in global epidemics, especially that reaching Britain and America in the early 1830s.

cholera in Medicine

cholera

[kŏl′ər-ə]

n.

An acute epidemic infectious disease caused by Vibrio cholerae, characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, extreme loss of fluid and electrolytes, and prostration.

Any of various diseases of domesticated animals marked by severe gastroenteritis.

Related formschol′e•ra′ic (-ə-rā′ĭk) adj.

cholera in Science

cholera

[kŏl′ər-ə]

An infectious, sometimes fatal disease of the small intestine caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It is spread from contaminated water and food and causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration.

cholera in Culture

cholera

[(kol-uh-ruh)]

An acute disease, and an infectious disease, caused by a kind of bacterium that affects the intestines. Transmitted by food or water that has been contaminated with raw sewage, cholera is often fatal and is characterized by severe vomiting, diarrhea, and collapse.