Typhus
//ˈtaɪfəs// noun
noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of several similar diseases, characterised by high recurrent fever, caused by Rickettsia bacteria. Not to be confused with typhoid fever. uncountable, usually
"Typhoid and typhus have similar names and symptoms, but are different diseases."
- 2 rickettsial disease transmitted by body lice and characterized by skin rash and high fever wordnet
Example
More examples"War is not an adventure. War is an illness. Like typhus."
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”).
Related phrases
More for "typhus"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.