Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: ILLNESS AND DISABILITY

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: desaise, from aise 'relaxed feeling, comfort'

disease

 noun
     
dis‧ease S3 W1
1 [uncountable and countable]MI an illness which affects a person, animal, or plantCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
have/suffer from a disease heart/liver/brain etc disease a disease of the brain/stomach etc catch a disease contract a disease formal (=catch a disease) a disease spreads/the spread of a disease infectious/contagious disease (=one that spreads quickly from one person to another) a fatal/deadly disease (=one that causes death) an incurable disease (=one that cannot be cured) a degenerative disease (=one that gradually gets worse and worse) a cure for a disease the symptoms of a disease (=the things that show that someone has it)
She suffers from a rare disease of the brain.
Heart disease runs in our family.
filthy conditions that cause disease
She contracted the disease while she was abroad on holiday.
The government has taken steps to halt the spread of the disease.
vaccinations against infectious diseases such as measles
'Mad cow disease' is a fatal degenerative disease of the nervous system.
The first symptoms of the disease are vomiting and a slight fever.
2 [countable]MISS something that is seriously wrong with society or with someone's mind, behaviour etc:
Loneliness is a disease of our urban communities.
—diseased adjective:
diseased muscles
a diseased plant
WORD CHOICE: WORD CHOICE:

illness, diseaseIllness and disease are often used in the same way and are equally common in spoken English. However, illness is more often used to refer to the length of time or state of being unwell • He died after a long illness. • if you are off school because of illness!! Do not use illness to talk about less serious problems such as headaches or colds.Disease is a particular kind of illness, especially one that spreads from one person to another or affects a particular part of your body • infectious diseases • heart disease!! Disease can also be used to mean a lot of different diseases • Cigarette smoking causes death and disease. ➔ See also illness
Definition of disease from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic ILLNESS AND DISABILITY
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