epidemiology

noun

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

-ˌde-mē-

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

epidemiological

ˌe-pə-ˌdē-mē-ə-ˈlä-ji-kəl  -ˌde-mē- 

adjective

or less commonly epidemiologic

ˌe-pə-ˌdē-mē-ə-ˈlä-jik 

-ˌde-mē-

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

Wastewater epidemiology has been in use for decades to detect polio in countries where the disease remains endemic, and more recently, to estimate the prevalence of opioid use in U.S. communities. —Megan Molteni, STAT, 22 May 2024

According to Yale epidemiology and anthropology Professor Nicola Hawley, there’s also strong evidence that physical fitness in childhood and adolescence impacts longer-term cardiovascular health. —Evan Gorelick, Hartford Courant, 22 Jan. 2024

These barriers keep people from seeking out a diagnosis and prevent scientists from fully knowing the epidemiology. —Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 3 June 2024

This technique, known as age-period-cohort modeling, is commonly used in epidemiology, and the modeling methods were reviewed by four experts in this type of analysis. —Jessica Gallagher, New York Times, 3 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

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.

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

epidemiology

noun

ep·​i·​de·​mi·​ol·​o·​gy ˌep-ə-ˌdē-mē-ˈäl-ə-jē 

1

: a branch of medical science that deals with the occurrence, distribution, and control of disease in a population

2

: the sum of the factors controlling the presence or absence of a particular disease

epidemiological

-mē-ə-ˈläj-i-kəl 

adjective

also epidemiologic

-ˈläj-ik 

Medical Definition

epidemiology

noun

ep·​i·​de·​mi·​ol·​o·​gy -jē 

plural epidemiologies

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

epidemiological

-ˌdē-mē-ə-ˈläj-i-kəl  -ˌdem-ē- 

adjective

also epidemiologic

-ik 

epidemiologically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb