From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Epidemic \Ep'i*dem"ic\, Epidemical \Ep'i*dem"ic*al\, adjective [L. epidemus, Gr. ?, ?, among the people, epidemic; ? in + ? people: cf. F. ['e]pid['e]mique. Cf. {Demagogue}.]
1. (Med.) Common to, or affecting at the same time, a large number in a community; -- applied to a disease which, spreading widely, attacks many persons at the same time; as, an epidemic disease; an epidemic catarrh, fever, etc. See {Endemic}.
2. Spreading widely, or generally prevailing; affecting great numbers, as an epidemic does; as, epidemic rage; an epidemic evil.
It was the epidemical sin of the nation. --Bp. Burnet.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Epidemic \Ep'i*dem"ic\, noun [Cf. {Epidemy}.]
1. (Med.) An epidemic disease.
2. Anything which takes possession of the minds of people as an epidemic does of their bodies; as, an epidemic of terror.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: (especially of medicine) of disease or anything resembling a disease; attacking or affecting many individuals in a community or a population simultaneously; "an epidemic outbreak of influenza" [ant: {endemic}, {ecdemic}]
noun
1: a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease; many people are infected at the same time
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
127 Moby Thesaurus words for "epidemic": abounding, abundant, affluent, all-sufficing, ambulatory plague, ample, aplenty, average, besetting, black death, black plague, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, bubonic plague, catching, cellulocutaneous plague, common, communicable, compact, contagious, copious, current, defervescing plague, diffuse, dominant, effuse, endemic, epidemial, epigrammatic, epiphytotic, epizootic, exhaustless, extravagant, exuberant, fat, fertile, flush, full, galore, general, generous, glandular plague, growth, hemorrhagic plague, in plenty, in quantity, inexhaustible, infectious, infective, inoculable, larval plague, lavish, liberal, luxuriant, many, maximal, meaty, much, murrain, normal, numerous, opulent, ordinary, outbreak, overflowing, pandemia, pandemic, pest, pesthole, pestiferous, pestilence, pestilential, plague, plague spot, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, pneumonic plague, popular, predominant, predominating, premonitory plague, prevailing, prevalent, prodigal, productive, profuse, profusive, rampant, rash, regnant, reigning, replete, rich, rife, riotous, routine, ruling, running, running over, scourge, septicemic plague, siderating plague, sporadic, spread, spreading, standard, stereotyped, superabundant, taking, teeming, tuberculosis, universal, upsurge, usual, wealthy, well-found, well-furnished, well-provided, well-stocked, white plague, wholesale, wide-ranging, widespread, zymotic
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0