typhoid
typhoid Lexical Profile
typhoid Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An acute, life-threatening infectious bacterial disease caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, typically transmitted through contaminated water or food and characterized by sustained high fever, abdominal pain, intestinal inflammation, and rose-colored spots on the chest and abdomen.
"Improvements in municipal water filtration and sanitation dramatically reduced the incidence of typhoid in the nineteenth century."
• adjective
Relating to, affected with, or characteristic of typhoid fever.
"Public health officials worked quickly to contain the typhoid outbreak in the flooded district."
Resembling or characteristic of typhus, especially in causing high fever and stupor (archaic).
"Eighteenth-century physicians often grouped several distinct illnesses together based on their typhoid symptoms."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'typhoid' (an enteric bacterial infection caused by Salmonella Typhi and spread through contaminated food or water) with 'typhus' (a separate group of vector-borne diseases caused by Rickettsia bacteria and transmitted by lice, fleas, or mites).
• Rhymes for typhoid
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the late 18th century from 'typhus' plus the suffix '-oid' (meaning 'resembling'), from Ancient Greek 'typhos' ('smoke' or 'stupor'), because the clinical symptoms of typhoid fever closely resembled those of typhus before their distinct bacterial causes were identified.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.