Epidemic vs Illness - What's the difference?
epidemic | illness |
A widespread disease that affects many individuals in a population.
(epidemiology) An occurrence of a disease or disorder in a population at a frequency higher than that expected in a given time period.
Like or having to do with an epidemic; widespread
* 2003 , James C. Howell, Preventing & Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Comprehensive Framework , SAGE Publications, ISBN 978-0-7619-2509-5,
(countable) An instance of a disease or poor health.
(uncountable) A state of bad health or disease.
As nouns the difference between epidemic and illness
is that epidemic is a widespread disease that affects many individuals in a population while illness is (countable) an instance of a disease or poor health.As an adjective epidemic
is like or having to do with an epidemic; widespread.epidemic
English
(wikipedia epidemic)Alternative forms
* epidemick (obsolete)Noun
(en noun)Antonyms
* endemicAdjective
(en adjective)- Epidemic hysteria occurred upon the incumbent’s reelection.
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- This proportion increased about 5% from 1988 to 1992—hardly a change of epidemic proportions.