typhus
noun/ˈtaɪfəs/
Etymology From New Latin typhus, from Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “fever, stupor”), from τύφω (túphō, “to smoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-, extended form of *dʰew- (“scatter like dust”).
1
Medicine, Pathology, Sciences Usually Any of several similar diseases, characterised by high recurrent fever, caused by Rickettsia bacteria. Not to be confused with typhoid fever.
- Typhoid and typhus have similar names and symptoms, but are different diseases.2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 377:
- Synonyms
- camp fever, gaol fever, hospital fever, jail fever, prison fever, putrid fever, ship fever
- Derived terms
- abdominal typhus, antityphus, bush typhus, chigger-borne typhus, endemic typhus, epidemic typhus, flea-borne typhus, Indian tick typhus, Kenya tick typhus, murine typhus, pneumotyphus, rat typhus, scrub typhus, tick typhus, tsutsugamushi, typhic, typhization, typhogenic, typhoid, typhous, typhus fever, urban typhus