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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Examples of epidemiology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Berle said the epidemiology studies presented were inadequate to evaluate that risk. — Washington Post, "APNewsBreak: California Judge: Coffee needs cancer warnings," 29 Mar. 2018 To determine the extent of the barking and the parking, the board paid $1,300 for a woman with a graduate degree in epidemiology to spend weeks studying the behavior of the dogs and their humans. — Jessica Contrera, chicagotribune.com, "Maryland dog park divides the rich and powerful," 6 Sep. 2019 To determine the extent of the barking and the parking, the board paid $1,300 for a woman with a graduate degree in epidemiology to spend weeks studying the behavior of the dogs and their humans. — Jessica Contrera, Washington Post, "‘NO EXCESSIVE BARKING’: A Chevy Chase dog park divides the rich and powerful," 28 Aug. 2019 To determine the extent of the barking and the parking, the board paid $1,300 for a woman with a graduate degree in epidemiology to spend weeks studying the behavior of the dogs and their humans. — Jessica Contrera, BostonGlobe.com, "Maryland dog park divides the rich and powerful," 28 Aug. 2019 To determine the extent of the barking and the parking, the board paid $1,300 for a woman with a graduate degree in epidemiology to spend weeks studying the behavior of the dogs and their humans. — Jessica Contrera, baltimoresun.com, "‘NO EXCESSIVE BARKING’: A Maryland dog park divides the rich and powerful," 28 Aug. 2019 McDonald said the 13-year-old’s case wasn’t mentioned because the epidemiology department hadn’t yet held its weekly meeting to cross-reference cases based on factors such as location. — Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Missed phone calls, changing stories: How E. coli spread at the San Diego County Fair," 17 Sep. 2019 Health officials thus far have been unable to pinpoint the exact cause of the illnesses, said Dr. Tony Cappello, director for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s disease control and environmental epidemiology division. — Sam Tabachnik, The Denver Post, "Second vape-related mystery illness confirmed in Colorado," 29 Aug. 2019 The epidemiology clinical and information technology team at the Florida Department of Health in Orange County received the 2019 Florida TaxWatch Productivity Award for work in addressing the hepatitis A outbreak. — Naseem S. Miller, orlandosentinel.com, "Orlando Health acquires cardiology practice," 22 Aug. 2019

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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