measles

[ mee-zuhlz ]

/ ˈmi zəlz /

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noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)Pathology.

an acute infectious disease occurring mostly in children, characterized by catarrhal and febrile symptoms and an eruption of small red spots; rubeola.
any of certain other eruptive diseases.Compare German measles.

Veterinary Pathology. a disease in swine and other animals caused by the larvae of certain tapeworms of the genus Taenia.

(used with a plural verb) the larvae that cause measles in swine and other animals, and that upon maturation produce trichinosis in humans.

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Origin of measles

1275–1325; Middle English mesels, variant of maseles (plural); cognate with Dutch maselen (plural), Middle Dutch masel; akin to German Masern measles, plural of Maser speck

Words nearby measles

Meany, Mearns, meas., measle, measled, measles, measly, measurable, measure, measured, measured daywork

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use measles in a sentence

Ferrari has been analyzing how these disruptions will affect measles outbreaks around the world over the next couple of years.
The Hard Lessons of Modeling the Coronavirus Pandemic|Jordana Cepelewicz|January 28, 2021|Quanta Magazine
From 2000 to 2016, reported measles cases worldwide plunged from 853,479 to 132,490.
Measles has come back with a vengeance in the last several years|Aimee Cunningham|November 13, 2020|Science News
The pandemic is interrupting measles vaccine programs around the world.
2019 was a terrible year for measles. 2021 could be much worse.|Julia Belluz|November 12, 2020|Vox
In 2019, even before covid-19, vaccine misinformation thrived on the platform as measles outbreaks spread across the US.
How the truth was murdered|Abby Ohlheiser|October 7, 2020|MIT Technology Review

I want to make a vaccine that’s going to be so powerful it is going to be like the measles vaccine, which gives you long-term immunity and a very powerful protection level, you know, 90% to 95%.
‘We’re racing against the clock’: The CEO of the Serum Institute of India on his company’s COVID-19 vaccine campaign|Erika Fry|September 21, 2020|Fortune
A powdered form of the measles vaccine could make delivery safer and easier around the world.
Powdered Measles Vaccine Could Be Huge for Developing World|Kent Sepkowitz|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The current FDA-approved measles vaccine consists of live but weakened measles virus that is injected into the arm.
Powdered Measles Vaccine Could Be Huge for Developing World|Kent Sepkowitz|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So the new inhaled powder measles vaccine may in a few years turn out to be an easier way to protect kids from measles.
Powdered Measles Vaccine Could Be Huge for Developing World|Kent Sepkowitz|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
From 1962-1965, there was a worldwide epidemic of rubella, the so-called “German measles.”
Heed the Warnings: Why We’re on the Brink of Mass Extinction|Sean B. Carroll|November 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile, the last outbreak of measles in Mississippi was reported in 1992, according to the state department of health.
Mississippi: Last In Everything, First In Vaccinations|Brandy Zadrozny|October 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Scarlet fever is frequently accompanied by eosinophilia, which may help to distinguish it from measles.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
On their perilous journey an attack of measles increased their discomforts.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2)|Francis Trevithick
First love is merely the more picturesque successor of measles and whooping-cough.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
Insist upon keeping a scarlet fever or measles patient out of school until all scaling has ceased.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine|Austin Malley
Chickenpox is almost a harmless disease, but it is more infectious than even measles.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine|Austin Malley

British Dictionary definitions for measles

measles

/ (ˈmiːzəlz) /

noun (functioning as singular or plural)

a highly contagious viral disease common in children, characterized by fever, profuse nasal discharge of mucus, conjunctivitis, and a rash of small red spots spreading from the forehead down to the limbsTechnical names: morbilli, rubeola See also German measles

a disease of cattle, sheep, and pigs, caused by infestation with tapeworm larvae

Word Origin for measles

C14: from Middle Low German masele spot on the skin; influenced by Middle English mesel leper, from Latin misellus, diminutive of miser wretched

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

Scientific definitions for measles

measles

[ mē′zəlz ]

An infectious disease caused by the rubeola virus of the genus Morbillivirus, characterized by fever, cough, and a rash that begins on the face and spreads to other parts of the body. Vaccinations, usually given in early childhood, confer immunity to measles. Also called rubeola

Cultural definitions for measles

measles

An acute and contagious disease caused by a virus and characterized by the outbreak of small red spots on the skin. Measles occurs most often in school-age children. (Compare German measles.)