disease
[dih-zeez]
- a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.
- any abnormal condition in a plant that interferes with its vital physiological processes, caused by pathogenic microorganisms, parasites, unfavorable environmental, genetic, or nutritional factors, etc.
- any harmful, depraved, or morbid condition, as of the mind or society: His fascination with executions is a disease.
- decomposition of a material under special circumstances: tin disease.
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- to affect with disease; make ill.
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Origin of disease
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
maladystrokeillnesssyndromecancersicknessdefectinfectionvirusfeverplagueepidemiccontaminationdisorderbugconditioninflammationfluseizurehemorrhageExamples from the Web for disease
Contemporary Examples
Without it, they say, the disease would surely kill her within two years.
He beat his illness twice, wrote about his battles with the disease, and continued broadcasting even as his health was failing.
It was a reminder that, as Beyoncé once sang, “Perfection is the disease of a nation,” and her family is hardly flawless.
World peace, religious tolerance, and an end to global poverty, hunger, and disease.
Despite the obvious ongoing problems with disease and access to basics, the future of Africa is bright.
Historical Examples
Some one said the other day, "Ennui is a disease that comes from living on other people's money."
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
I found the people corrupted; and I must humour their disease.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
He had breathed into the atmosphere a subtle malaria, and George had caught the disease.
Life in LondonEdwin Hodder
He looked into his own heart—he was almost afraid to look—and saw the ravages of disease there.
Life in LondonEdwin Hodder
What sort of a disease is it that has taken Mrs. Roberts, do you suppose, to send her there?
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
disease
- any impairment of normal physiological function affecting all or part of an organism, esp a specific pathological change caused by infection, stress, etc, producing characteristic symptoms; illness or sickness in general
- a corresponding condition in plants
- any situation or condition likened to thisthe disease of materialism
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French desaise; see dis- 1, ease
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for disease
n.
early 14c., "discomfort, inconvenience," from Old French desaise "lack, want; discomfort, distress; trouble, misfortune; disease, sickness," from des- "without, away" (see dis-) + aise "ease" (see ease). Sense of "sickness, illness" in English first recorded late 14c.; the word still sometimes was used in its literal sense early 17c.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
disease
(dĭ-zēz′)- A pathological condition of a body part, an organ, or a system resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.