noun
disease
dih-ZEEZ
noun
1
An illness affecting the body or mind, caused by infection, malfunction, or other harmful factors.
"The clinic specializes in treating heart disease."
"Doctors are still studying how the disease spreads."
2
A harmful or corrupting pattern in a system, society, or way of thinking.
"Corruption became a disease within the organization."
How to Use Disease
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA medical condition that harms the body, or by extension, anything that spreads harm through a group or system.
Common mistake
Don't confuse with "decease" (to die) — they sound similar but are unrelated.
Easily confused with
decease
Common pairings
contract a disease
spread of disease
disease outbreak
chronic disease
Word Forms
diseased past tense, diseases plural, diseases singular
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The clinic specializes in treating heart _____.
Etymology
From Old French desaise, literally "lack of ease" — built from des- ("dis-") plus aise ("ease"). The word originally meant discomfort in general before narrowing to mean illness.