dysentery

[ dis-uhn-ter-ee ]

noun

1. Pathology. an infectious disease marked by inflammation and ulceration of the lower part of the bowels, with diarrhea that becomes mucous and hemorrhagic.
2. diarrhea.

dysentery

/ ˌdɪsənˈtɛrɪk; ˈdɪsəntrɪ /

noun

1. infection of the intestine with bacteria or amoebae, marked chiefly by severe diarrhoea with the passage of mucus and blood

dysentery

/ dĭs′ən-tĕr′ē /

1. A gastrointestinal disease characterized by severe, often bloody diarrhea, usually caused by infection with bacteria or parasites.

dysentery

1. A painful disease of the intestines characterized by inflammation and diarrhea . Dysentery may be caused by bacteria or viruses , or may occur as the result of infestation by an amoeba .

Notes

Dysentery can be transmitted by contact with water or food that has been contaminated by human waste. Public health and sanitation procedures in developed countries, however, have largely eliminated this means of transmission.

Derived Forms

• dysenteric, adjective

Other Words From

• dysen·teric adjective
• postdys·en·teric adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dysentery¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Medieval Latin dysenteria, from Greek, from dysénter(a) “bad bowels” ( dys-, enteron ) + -ia -ia; replacing Middle English dissenterie, from Old French

Word History and Origins

Origin of dysentery¹

C14: via Latin from Greek dusenteria, from dusentera, literally: bad bowels, from dys- + enteron intestine

Example Sentences

The player is tasked with making important decisions along the way, including choosing the best path, when to hunt and how to avoid illnesses such as dysentery.

From Washington Post

I could do everything right—become a banker, shoot all my food, keep my family warm—and still, LucyKat932 would die from dysentery.

From Outside Online

Lice, which spread typhus, were endemic, but perhaps the most infamous and preventable infections and diseases of the time were dysentery and typhoid fever.

From Time

Fewer officers died of dysentery because they were in less crowded encampments, had access to cleaner water and, at least according to their own accounts, had better hygiene.

From Time

In the 18th century, German immigrants coming to Pennsylvania boarded ships plagued with typhus, dysentery, smallpox, and scurvy.

From The Daily Beast

I got drunk, sunstroke, and dysentery,” laughs Robert, “but I also got the girl.

From The Daily Beast

She ended up in prison on the island of Saipan where she either was executed or died of dysentery.

From The Daily Beast

At last, 17 days after he left his summer palace, His Holiness, seriously ill with dysentery, crossed the Indian border.

From The Daily Beast

But he had gone away, on account of the deaths which had occurred there from some form of dysentery.

From Project Gutenberg

Stools composed almost wholly of mucus and streaked with blood are the rule in dysentery, ileocolitis, and intussusception.

From Project Gutenberg

Its internal uses are in hysteria, and 136 in such conditions as diarrhoea, dysentery and cholera.

From Project Gutenberg

Before that they were all crammed into the six cells, and locked in for the night, some of them with dysentery.

From Project Gutenberg

The most common complaint is a dysentery, towards the latter end of the autumn.

From Project Gutenberg