adjective
noun
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Etymology
Origin of pandemic
First recorded in 1660–70; from Late Latin pandēm(us), from Greek pándēmos “common, public” ( pan- “all” + dêm(os) “the people” + -os adjective suffix) + -ic; see pan-
Explanation
Remember the 2009 swine flu? That was a pandemic — an illness that swept over much of the globe. People fear pandemics, and with good reason. The black plague that ran through Asia and Europe in the 1300s is believed to have killed as much as half of Europe's population, between 75 and 100 million folks. The word comes from ancient Greek — pan (meaning "all") and demos (meaning "people"), or simply put — all the people. Of course, people across the globe suffer from the seasonal flu, and many die from it. But it isn't considered a pandemic because it is generally harmless to the healthy.
Vocabulary lists containing pandemic
President Obama's Farewell Address
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Human Geography - High School
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For National Pancake Day, Words With the Greek Roots "Pan-"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The biotech billionaire compared that morning to the day the company announced its Covid vaccine data at the depths of the pandemic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Under Kennedy, the U.S. government also canceled Moderna’s contract to develop mRNA-based vaccines for pandemic influenza viruses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Bali has seen tourist numbers recover past its pandemic lull.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
A recession or another global pandemic could tank the economy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
And even this enormous force might not have overcome the empire if while Cortes was building his ships Tenochtitlan had not been swept by smallpox in the same pandemic that later wiped out Tawantinsuyu.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
The group is also fighting Becker’s bill, which would add war to the list of emergencies — such as natural disasters and pandemics — that can trigger California’s price-gouging laws.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Outbreaks and pandemics are often accompanied by misinformation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
History has also taught us that the gods like to dish out nasty surprises every few years: dot-com bubbles, subprime mortgage crises, pandemics, etc.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
Negotiations are also stalled by a demand from developing countries for guarantees of equitable access to vaccines outside pandemics, as well as wranglings over financial contributions that participating pharmaceutical companies should make.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
They seem to have an occasional accident, but they have not yet, so far as I know, produced global pandemics.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
