epidemiology

American  

[ep-i-dee-mee-ol-uh-jee, -dem-ee-] / ˌɛp ɪˌdi miˈɒl ə dʒi, -ˌdɛm i- /

noun

1. the study, assessment, and analysis of public health concerns in a given population; the tracking of patterns and effects of diseases, environmental toxins, natural disasters, violence, terrorist attacks, etc..

   Without the profiles gleaned through epidemiology, our health agencies would be at a terrible loss when something like COVID-19 emerges.

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epidemiology British  

/ ˌɛpɪˌdiːmɪəˈlɒdʒɪkəl, ˌɛpɪˌdiːmɪˈɒlədʒɪ /

noun

1. the branch of medical science concerned with the occurrence, transmission, and control of epidemic diseases

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epidemiology Scientific  

/ ĕp′ĭ-dē′mē-ŏl′ə-jē /

1. The scientific study of the causes, distribution, and control of disease in populations.

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Other Word Forms

• epidemiologist
  noun
• epidemiological
  adjective
• epidemiologically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of epidemiology

First recorded in 1870–75; epidemi(c) + -o- + -logy

Explanation

Epidemiology is the study of diseases: specifically, how they are caused, how they are spread, and how they are controlled or cured. To be sure, it's a nasty job, but someone has to do it! The ancestry of the word epidemiology comes from the Greek word epidēmia, meaning "prevalence of disease." Although the actual term didn't come about to describe the study of epidemics until 1802, the Greek physician Hippocrates is called "the father of epidemiology" for being the first to study the relationship between diseases and the environments that influences them. The study of epidemiology covers a wide variety of diseases, including infectious, chronic, and neurological diseases, and even includes the study of injuries.

Example Sentences

For example, a study published in 2004 calculated that doctors trained in epidemiology would need an impossible 29 hours per weekday to be fully up on all the latest research in primary care.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 27, 2026

Prof Sasieni, who specialises in cancer epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London, describes the reduction in deaths since the introduction of the vaccine as the "tip of the iceberg".

From BBC • Jun. 17, 2026

“The mental health of your family tree is in some way statistically associated with your risk of autism,” said Brian K. Lee, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026

It was funded by Karolinska Institutet's strategic research area in epidemiology and biostatistics, the Swedish Research Council and the European Research Council.

From Science Daily • Mar. 24, 2026

Even Adah, who’s becoming an expert in tropical epidemiology and strange new viruses.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver