malaria

[muh-lair-ee-uh] /məˈlɛər i ə/
noun
1.
Pathology. any of a group of diseases, usually intermittent or remittent, characterized by attacks of chills, fever, and sweating: formerly supposed to be due to swamp exhalations but now known to be caused by a parasitic protozoan, which is transferred to the human bloodstream by a mosquito of the genus Anopheles and which occupies and destroys red blood cells.
2.
Archaic. unwholesome or poisonous air.
Origin
1730-40; < Italian, contraction of mala aria bad air
Related forms
malarial, malarian, malarious, adjective
nonmalarial, adjective
nonmalarian, adjective
nonmalarious, adjective
postmalarial, adjective
pseudomalaria, noun
unmalarial, adjective
Examples from the web for malaria
  • There has been enormous progress over the past three years in distributing the means to prevent and treat malaria.
  • Anyone having malaria is quarantined and treated before he is allowed to mix with the community.
  • malaria has been known about since ancient times and has gone under many names.
  • Doctors estimate more than a million people die of malaria each year.
  • More than a million people every year die from malaria.
  • They were weakened by hunger, crippled by festering sores, incapacitated by malaria and dysentery.
  • Researchers are teaching malaria drugs new tricks in the struggle to come up with non-resistant antibiotics.
  • malaria is a disease caused by parasites that are carried by mosquitoes.
  • malaria is caused by parasites that are transmitted by mosquitoes.
  • Insecticide-treated bed nets may be low-tech, but they are a highly effective way to prevent the spread of malaria.
British Dictionary definitions for malaria

malaria

/məˈlɛərɪə/
noun
1.
an infectious disease characterized by recurring attacks of chills and fever, caused by the bite of an anopheles mosquito infected with any of four protozoans of the genus Plasmodium (P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, or P. ovale)
Derived Forms
malarial, malarian, malarious, adjective
Word Origin
C18: from Italian mala aria bad air, from the belief that the disease was caused by the unwholesome air in swampy districts
Word Origin and History for malaria
n.

1740, from Italian mal'aria, from mala aria, literally "bad air," from mala "bad" (fem. of malo, from Latin malus; see mal-) + aria "air" (see air (n.1)). Probably first used by Italian physician Francisco Torti (1658-1741). The disease, now known to be mosquito-borne, once was thought to be caused by foul air in marshy districts. Replaced native ague.

malaria in Medicine

malaria ma·lar·i·a (mə-lâr'ē-ə)
n.
An infectious disease characterized by cycles of chills, fever, and sweating, caused by the parasitic infection of red blood cells by a protozoan of the genus Plasmodium, which is transmitted by the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito. Also called jungle fever, paludism, swamp fever.

ma·lar'i·al or ma·lar'i·an or ma·lar'i·ous adj.
malaria in Science
malaria
  (mə-lâr'ē-ə)   
An infectious disease of tropical areas caused by the parasitic infection of red blood cells by a protozoan of the genus Plasmodium, which is transmitted by the bite of an infected female mosquito. Malaria is characterized by recurrent episodes of chills, fever, sweating, and anemia and is endemic in Africa, Central America, and much of Southern Asia and northern South America.
malaria in Culture
malaria [(muh-lair-ee-uh)]

An infectious disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. Persons suffering from malaria experience periodic episodes of chills and fever.