epidemiology

noun
ep·​i·​de·​mi·​ol·​o·​gy | \ ˌe-pə-ˌdē-mē-ˈä-lə-jē How to pronounce epidemiology (audio) , -ˌde-mē-\

Definition of epidemiology

1 : a branch of medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population
2 : the sum of the factors controlling the presence or absence of a disease or pathogen

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Other Words from epidemiology

epidemiological \ ˌe-​pə-​ˌdē-​mē-​ə-​ˈlä-​ji-​kəl How to pronounce epidemiological (audio) , -​ˌde-​mē-​ \ or less commonly epidemiologic \ ˌe-​pə-​ˌdē-​mē-​ə-​ˈlä-​jik How to pronounce epidemiologic (audio) , -​ˌde-​mē-​ \ adjective
epidemiologically \ ˌe-​pə-​ˌdē-​mē-​ə-​ˈlä-​ji-​k(ə-​)lē How to pronounce epidemiologically (audio) , -​ˌde-​mē-​ \ adverb
epidemiologist \ ˌe-​pə-​ˌdē-​mē-​ˈä-​lə-​jist How to pronounce epidemiologist (audio) , -​ˌde-​mē-​ \ noun

Examples of epidemiology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s what researchers led by Dr. Wei Bao , an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Iowa, wanted to find out in a recent study. Time, "Americans Are Not Getting the Message About Exercising More and Sitting Less," 26 July 2019 All those social media posts and pictures and memes do have an impact, says Katherine Keyes, an associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University who has researched alcohol use among women. Caitlin Gibson, Washington Post, "Mothers are drinking more than ever. But the sober-curious movement challenges ‘wine mom’ culture.," 7 July 2019 O’Neill, a veterinarian and senior lecturer in companion animal epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College in London, has visited the show’s filming locations in Northern Ireland with his family. National Geographic, "In Game of Thrones fans’ pursuit of real-life dire wolves, huskies may pay the price," 6 May 2019 In the 1970s, the cancer epidemiologist Richard Peto, now a professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at the University of Oxford, articulated this surprising phenomenon, which has come to be known as Peto’s paradox. Quanta Magazine, "A Zombie Gene Protects Elephants From Cancer," 7 Nov. 2017 Each stack is dedicated to a topic somehow related to his work in evolutionary theory: the origins of behavioral disorders, the epidemiology of tuberculosis, the way modern humans overrode Neanderthals. Quanta Magazine, "Finding the Actions That Alter Evolution," 5 Jan. 2017 According to the report, the hotels were being inspected by health inspectors, including environmental health and epidemiology specialists, on Thursday. Breanna Edwards, Essence, "Early Autopsy Results Still Inconclusive On American Tourists Who Died At The Same Dominican Republic Resort," 7 June 2019 That's a far higher rate of hospitalization and death than is normally seen with the hepatitis A virus, said Dr. Nicholas Gilpin, chief medical officer of Beaumont Hospital, Grosse Pointe, and medical director of infection control/epidemiology. Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan's hepatitis A outbreak is worst in U.S. What you need to know.," 27 May 2018 Meike Vernooij, a professor in epidemiology and radiology at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and her colleagues wanted to see how diet might impact the brain. Alice Park, Time, "How What You Eat May Affect Your Brain Size," 16 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'epidemiology.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of epidemiology

1850, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for epidemiology

borrowed from French, Spanish, or New Latin; French épidémiologie, borrowed from Spanish epidemiología, borrowed from New Latin epidēmiologia, from Medieval Latin epidēmia "disease affecting a large number of individuals, epidemic" + New Latin -o- -o- + -logia -logy — more at epidemic entry 1

Note: New Latin epidēmiologia was used in the title of a treatise by the Calabrian physician Quinto Tiberio Angelerio (1532-1617), Epidemiologia, sive Tractatus de peste (Madrid, 1598), a second edition of his earlier work Ectypa pestilentis status Algheriae Sardiniae (Cagliari, 1588), detailing methods to cope with a plague outbreak in Alghero, Sardinia, in 1582-83. The Latin word was revived by the Spanish physician Joaquín de Villalba (1752-1807) in his Epidemiología española (Madrid, 1802), a history of epidemics in Spain that was widely disseminated in Europe.

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More Definitions for epidemiology

epidemiology

noun

English Language Learners Definition of epidemiology

medical : the study of how disease spreads and can be controlled

epidemiology

noun
ep·​i·​de·​mi·​ol·​o·​gy | \ -jē How to pronounce epidemiology (audio) \
plural epidemiologies

Medical Definition of epidemiology

1 : a branch of medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population
2 : the sum of the factors controlling the presence or absence of a disease or pathogen

Other Words from epidemiology

epidemiological \ -​ˌdē-​mē-​ə-​ˈläj-​i-​kəl How to pronounce epidemiological (audio) , -​ˌdem-​ē-​ How to pronounce epidemiological (audio) \ also epidemiologic \ -​ik How to pronounce epidemiologic (audio) \ adjective
epidemiologically \ -​i-​k(ə-​)lē How to pronounce epidemiologically (audio) \ adverb

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