mumps

American  

[muhmps] / mʌmps /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. an infectious disease characterized by inflammatory swelling of the parotid and usually other salivary glands, and sometimes by inflammation of the testes or ovaries, caused by a paramyxovirus.

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mumps British  

/ mʌmps /

noun

1. Also called: epidemic parotitis.  (functioning as singular or plural) an acute contagious viral disease of the parotid salivary glands, characterized by swelling of the affected parts, fever, and pain beneath the ear: usually affects children

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mumps Scientific  

/ mŭmps /

1. An infectious disease caused by a virus of the family Paramyxoviridae and the genus Rubulavirus, characterized by swelling of the salivary glands, especially the parotid glands, and sometimes of the pancreas, testes, or ovaries. Vaccinations, usually given in early childhood, confer immunity to mumps.

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mumps Cultural  

1. An acute and contagious disease marked by fever and inflammation of the salivary glands. Caused by a virus, mumps is normally a childhood disease that passes with no aftereffects.

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Discover More

A child who has had mumps is immune from further infection by the mumps virus.

Other Word Forms

• mumpish
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of mumps

First recorded in 1590–1600; mump ¹ + -s ³

Explanation

Mumps is a highly contagious, fast-spreading disease. When someone gets mumps, they have a fever and swollen neck glands. Mumps is one of many viral illnesses that can be prevented with immunizations. Before the vaccine was developed, mumps was a common childhood illness. It's spread through coughs and sneezes, and while it's often mild, there are complications that can be serious, like brain infections and deafness. The name mumps comes from the now-obsolete mump, "a grimace," from a previous meaning, "to whine like a beggar." In the seventeenth century, mumps also meant "a fit of melancholy."

Example Sentences

Mumps fell from more than 162,000 cases annually to 429 and rubella from nearly 48,000 to three.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2025

Mumps outbreaks do in fact sometimes occur in vaccinated people, although the vaccine greatly reduces the disease burden.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 25, 2022

But once the punk scene began, and Loud! morphed into the band Mumps, the group dovetailed perfectly with “the new culture of shock,” as Hoffman put it.

From New York Times • May 31, 2021

Mumps, measles and rubella are highly infectious and highly deadly.

From Washington Times • Oct. 2, 2019

"Mumps is exactly—" "Klepper,—remember, he's Klepper," said Grog, mildly.

From Davenport Dunn, Volume 1 (of 2) A Man Of Our Day by Lever, Charles James