epidemiology

noun

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ep·i·de·mi·ol·o·gy | \ ˌe-pə-ˌdē-mē-ˈä-lə-jē

, -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

Other Words from epidemiology Example Sentences Learn More about epidemiology

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Other Words from epidemiology

epidemiological \ ˌe-pə-ˌdē-mē-ə-ˈlä-ji-kəl

, -ˌde-mē- \ or less commonly epidemiologic \ ˌe-pə-ˌdē-mē-ə-ˈlä-jik

, -ˌde-mē- \ adjective

epidemiologically \ ˌe-pə-ˌdē-mē-ə-ˈlä-ji-k(ə-)lē

, -ˌde-mē- \ adverb

epidemiologist \ ˌe-pə-ˌdē-mē-ˈä-lə-jist

, -ˌde-mē- \ noun

Examples of epidemiology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web People with chronic illnesses are especially important to vaccinate because their coronavirus infections are more likely to end in hospitalization and death, said Janet Baseman, an epidemiology professor at the University of Washington. — Ryan Gabrielson, ProPublica, 30 Apr. 2021 As long as supply ramps up, the goal seems reasonable, said Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an epidemiology professor. — Kathleen Ronayne, chicagotribune.com, 13 Mar. 2021 The economic decision to keep stores open — compelled by a lack of federal relief to help ailing businesses — has muddied the public health message, said UCLA epidemiology professor Shira Shafir. — Soumya Karlamangla, Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec. 2020 Tufekci, a sociologist and writer for the New York Times, and Mina, an epidemiology professor at Harvard, wrote that one-dose trials should begin immediately on people who were among the first to get vaccinated. — David Hogberg, Washington Examiner, 22 Dec. 2020 Nathan Wolfe, a former epidemiology professor at UCLA, started a company — Metabiota — focused on helping industries and governments build resilience to epidemics. — Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Longreads, 10 Dec. 2020 The Warriors’ plan included using the more-reliable PCR testing, rather than antigen testing, according to UCSF epidemiology professor George Rutherford, an infectious disease expert advising the team. — Ron Kroichick, SFChronicle.com, 18 Nov. 2020 Similar issues stand in the way of Hispanic women receiving regular breast cancer screenings, said Dr. Avonne Connor, an epidemiology professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. — Angela Roberts, baltimoresun.com, 30 Oct. 2020 Since the spring, a group of experts led by Michael Mina, an epidemiology professor at Harvard, has called for the government to freely distribute tens of millions of 15-minute coronavirus tests a day. — Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic, 9 Oct. 2020

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.

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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