cholera

[kol-er-uh] /ˈkɒl ər ə/
noun
1.
Also called Asiatic cholera. Pathology. an acute, infectious disease, endemic in India and China and occasionally epidemic elsewhere, characterized by profuse diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, etc.
2.
Veterinary Pathology. any of several diseases of domesticated animals that are characterized by depression, sleepiness, lack of appetite, and diarrhea.
Compare fowl cholera, hog cholera.
Origin
1350-1400 for sense of choler (def 2); 1565-75 for current senses; Middle English < Latin < Greek choléra name of several intestinal diseases
Related forms
choleraic
[kol-uh-rey-ik] /ˌkɒl əˈreɪ ɪk/ (Show IPA), adjective
Examples from the web for cholera
  • He cites the pork industry, which used to be blighted with hog cholera.
  • Water shortages, poor hygiene, and piles of garbage are boosting the dangers of cholera and dysentery.
  • More than nine months after the country's devastating earthquake, a cholera epidemic has sickened thousands.
  • Not even the threat of a cholera outbreak slowed his pace.
  • Panic about the spread of cholera in the north is intensifying.
  • Health workers rushed to vaccinate thousands against such risks as typhoid and cholera.
  • Elsewhere, you may have to worry about cholera and dysentery.
  • The health, officers are taking active stops to be able to cope with the cholera should it appear here.
  • As ever after such events, an outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera is feared.
  • For example, one map features water, sanitation and hygiene projects which is overlaid with data on the cholera outbreak.
British Dictionary definitions for cholera

cholera

/ˈkɒlərə/
noun
1.
an acute intestinal infection characterized by severe diarrhoea, cramp, etc: caused by ingestion of water or food contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio comma Also called Asiatic cholera, epidemic cholera, Indian cholera
Derived Forms
choleroid, adjective
Word Origin
C14: from Latin, from Greek kholera jaundice, from kholē bile
Word Origin and History for cholera
n.

late 14c., "bile, melancholy" (originally the same as choler), from Middle French cholera or directly from Late Latin cholera, from Greek kholera "a type of disease characterized by diarrhea, supposedly caused by choler" (Celsus), from khole "gall, bile," from khloazein "to be green," from khloros (see Chloe). But another sense of khole was "drainpipe, gutter."

Revived 1560s in classical sense as a name for a severe digestive disorder (rarely fatal to adults); and 1704 (especially as cholera morbus), for a highly lethal disease endemic in India, periodically breaking out in global epidemics, especially that reaching Britain and America in the early 1830s.

cholera in Medicine

cholera chol·er·a (kŏl'ər-ə)
n.

  1. An acute epidemic infectious disease caused by Vibrio cholerae, characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, extreme loss of fluid and electrolytes, and prostration.

  2. Any of various diseases of domesticated animals marked by severe gastroenteritis.

chol'e·ra'ic (-ə-rā'ĭk) adj.
cholera in Science
cholera
  (kŏl'ər-ə)   
An infectious, sometimes fatal disease of the small intestine caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It is spread from contaminated water and food and causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration.
cholera in Culture
cholera [(kol-uh-ruh)]

An acute disease, and an infectious disease, caused by a kind of bacterium that affects the intestines. Transmitted by food or water that has been contaminated with raw sewage, cholera is often fatal and is characterized by severe vomiting, diarrhea, and collapse.