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Definition of daly
daly
/ˈdeɪ.li/
da · ly
Plural:dalys
daly Lexical Profile
CEFR
C2
Grade
13
Tier
3
Usage
Rare
• noun
1
A measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability, or early death.
Example
"Public health officials analyzed the number of DALYs associated with the outbreak to determine where funding was most urgently needed."
Word Nuance & Usage
Most commonly written in all-caps as 'DALY', this acronym is a highly specific academic and medical metric used to quantify the burden of disease.
• Rhymes for daly
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
An acronym for 'Disability-Adjusted Life Year', originally developed in 1990 by Harvard University for the World Bank.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.
180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer
Cite this Entry
Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Daly. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Oct 16, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/daly