Ebola
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The Ebola virus. uncountable
"Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of Ebola. alt-of, uncountable
"[A] single droplet of blood no bigger than this ‘o’ may contain 100 million ebola particles."
- 3 a severe and often fatal disease in humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys and chimpanzees) caused by the Ebola virus; characterized by high fever and severe internal bleeding; can be spread from person to person; is largely limited to Africa wordnet
- 4 Ebola fever. uncountable
- 1 A river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Example
More examples"Does anyone know anything about the ebola virus that is afflicting Africa?"
Etymology
Named after the river, which flowed near the first outbreak of Ebola that was first identified as Ebola. Reports conflict about who initially coined the name: either Karl Johnson of the American Centers for Disease Control or Belgian researchers.
Related phrases
More for "ebola"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.