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.

---

epidemiology British  

/ ˌɛpɪˌdiːmɪəˈlɒdʒɪkəl, ˌɛpɪˌdiːmɪˈɒlədʒɪ /

noun

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

---

epidemiology Scientific  

/ ĕp′ĭ-dē′mē-ŏl′ə-jē /

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

---

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

See Examples For:

epidemiology

“They are about putting together epidemiology, traceback, supply chain information and laboratory evidence to determine the most likely source.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Given the state of epidemiology and data analysis, food poisoning probably shouldn’t be a monthlong mystery, and yet here we are.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

The research team included specialists from multiple fields such as pharmacy, epidemiology, thoracic surgery, and public health.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 21, 2026

"I'm not particularly worried there will be much onward spread of hantavirus," Jennifer Nuzzo, a professor of epidemiology at Brown University in the United States, wrote on Bluesky.

From Barron's ● May 13, 2026

In 2012, several further studies corroborated these initial findings, strengthening the links between these variants of mental illness and family histories and deepening questions about their etiology, epidemiology, triggers, and instigators.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee