epidemiology

noun

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

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 His father worked in the commercial art trade and owned a blanket that was once used by a victim of the 1918 flu — a morbid keepsake that Dr. Crosby credited with stimulating his interest in epidemiology. — Harrison Smith, Washington Post, "Alfred Crosby, environmental historian of ‘Columbian exchange,’ dies at 87," 5 Apr. 2018 People in the program undergo four weeks of lectures and training at CDC Atlanta, nicknamed epidemiology boot camp, and then can be deployed to locations around the world to investigate urgent outbreaks on the ground. — Jacqueline Detwiler, Popular Mechanics, "The Disease Detectives," 7 Mar. 2019 Susan Huang, medical director for epidemiology and infection prevention at the University of California at Irvine School of Medicine, and a mother of two, agreed. — Jenny Marder, The Seattle Times, "There’s mold in your kids’ bath toys (and that’s probably OK)," 12 Feb. 2019 Gregg Gonsalves: Global health advocate, assistant professor of epidemiology, Yale University. — Hannah Rodriguez, The Seattle Times, "UW researcher wins $625,000 MacArthur ‘genius grant’ for transgender youth study," 4 Oct. 2018 The study was done by the system’s then-executive medical director for clinical effectiveness in collaboration with the director of epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System. — Lucette Lagnado, WSJ, "Hospitals Step Up the War on Superbugs," 8 Sep. 2018 Gib teaches postgraduate epidemiology at the University of New Hampshire in Manchester. — Abdi Nor Iftin, BostonGlobe.com, "From war-torn Somalia to Maine: An immigrant’s story of hope," 23 May 2018 This innovation in data visualization was heralded as a key point in the nascent field of epidemiology. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "Victoria (Mostly) Got It Right: The True Story of John Snow's Cholera Breakthrough," 4 Feb. 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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