tertian

American  

[tur-shuhn] / ˈtɜr ʃən /

adjective

1. Pathology. (of a malarial fever, etc.) characterized by paroxysms that recur every other day.

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noun

1. Pathology. a tertian fever.

2. a Jesuit during the period of tertianship.

tertian British  

/ ˈtɜːʃən /

adjective

1. (of a fever or the symptoms of a disease, esp malaria) occurring every other day

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noun

1. a tertian fever or symptoms

Other Word Forms

• subtertian
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of tertian

1325–75; Middle English terciane < Latin ( febris ) tertiāna tertian (fever), equivalent to terti ( us ) third + -āna, feminine of -ānus -an

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tertian

Quinine also destroys the sexual forms of all but P. falciparum, which means that even after he is "cured" by quinine a patient with malignant tertian malaria can give the protozoa to any suitable mosquito.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week he died of tertian malaria, nephritis and influenza, was buried on a hilltop in Addis Ababa.

From Time Magazine Archive

A total of 213 cases was reported; of those, only six were of the "benign tertian" or vivax type.

From Time Magazine Archive

Influenza, tertian fever, leprosy were all endemic, along with tapeworm and a mysterious intestinal infestation that made its victim long to eat earth.

From Time Magazine Archive

I was wrecked there once in an Austrian Lloyd's steamer, and caught a tertian fever before I could get away.

From The Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly by Charles James Lever

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