Onchocerciasis
//ɒŋkəsɜːˈkaɪəsɪs// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A disease caused by a worm of the genus Onchocerca, especially as transmitted to humans by flies and often causing blindness; common in tropical Africa. countable, uncountable
- 2 infestation with slender threadlike roundworms (filaria) deposited under the skin by the bite of black fleas; when the eyes are involved it can result in blindness; common in Africa and tropical America wordnet
Etymology
From New Latin Onchocerca (a genus of parasitic worms), from Ancient Greek ὄγκος (ónkos, “barb”) + κέρκος (kérkos, “tail”) + -iasis.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.