Definition of 'typhus'
Word Frequency
typhus in British English
noun
any one of a group of acute infectious rickettsial diseases characterized by high fever, skin rash, and severe headache
Also called: typhus feverCollins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
typhous (ˈtyphous) adjective
Word origin
C18: from New Latin tӯphus, from Greek tuphos fever; related to tuphein to smoke
Word Frequency
typhus in American English
noun
an acute infectious disease caused by various rickettsiae (esp. Rickettsia prowazekii) transmitted to people by the bite of fleas, lice, etc., and characterized by fever, headache, and an eruption of red spots on the skin
in full typhus feverWebster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ModL < Gr typhos, vapor, fever, stupor, akin to typhein, to smoke, be cloudy < IE base *dheu-: see dullWord Frequency
typhus in American English
(ˈtaifəs)
noun
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
typhous adjective
Word origin
[1635–45; ‹ NL ‹ Gk tŷphos vapor]Examples of 'typhus' in a sentence
typhus
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Definition of typhus from the Collins English Dictionary
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