Spanish flu

[ span-ish floo ]
/ ˈspæn ɪʃ ˈflu /

noun Pathology.

the pandemic strain of type A influenza that spread throughout the world during 1918–20: it is also referred to as the 1918 flu pandemic or 1918 influenza pandemic.

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Also Span·ish in·flu·en·za [span-ish in-floo-en-zuh] /ˈspæn ɪʃ ˌɪn fluˈɛn zə/.

Origin of Spanish flu

First recorded in 1918; so called because wartime censorship in the major belligerent powers, particularly the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, and France, minimized early reports of illness and mortality among themselves but freely reported the effects of the pandemic in neutral Spain, leaving the impression that Spain was very hard hit by this flu
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Medical definitions for spanish influenza

Spanish influenza
[ spăn′ĭsh ]

n.

Influenza that caused several waves of pandemic in 1918-1919, resulting in over 20 million deaths worldwide.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.