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pandemic.

Of a disease: epidemic over a wide geographical area and affecting a large proportion of the population; also, of or pertaining to a disease of this nature.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/pænˈdɛmɪk/Received-Pronunciation/pænˈdɛmɪk/Canada, General-American[pɛənˈdɛmɪk]Canada, General-American/pænˈdemɪk/Australia
  1. Of a disease: epidemic over a wide geographical area and affecting a large proportion of the population; also, of or pertaining to a disease of this nature.

    The chaotic breakdown of public health as World War I dragged on is widely recognized as exacerbating the disease burden of the pandemic outbreak of influenza in 1918.
  2. General, widespread.

    derogatory · usually
Where this word comes from

From Ancient Greek πάνδημος (pándēmos, “of or belonging to all the people, public”) + English -ic (suffix forming adjectives from nouns with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’). πάνδημος is derived from παν- (pan-, prefix meaning ‘all, every’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect, shepherd”)) + δῆμος (dêmos, “the common people; free citizens, sovereign people”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- (“to divide, share”)). Compare Late Latin pandēmus (“affecting all the people, general, public”).

noun/pænˈdɛmɪk/Received-Pronunciation/pænˈdɛmɪk/Canada, General-American[pɛənˈdɛmɪk]Canada, General-American/pænˈdemɪk/Australia
  1. A pandemic disease; a disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population.

  2. A pandemic disease; a disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population. The COVID-19 pandemic.

    specifically
Where this word comes from

From Ancient Greek πάνδημος (pándēmos, “of or belonging to all the people, public”) + English -ic (suffix forming adjectives from nouns with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’). πάνδημος is derived from παν- (pan-, prefix meaning ‘all, every’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect, shepherd”)) + δῆμος (dêmos, “the common people; free citizens, sovereign people”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- (“to divide, share”)). Compare Late Latin pandēmus (“affecting all the people, general, public”).

adj/pænˈdɛmɪk/Received-Pronunciation/pænˈdɛmɪk/Canada, General-American[pɛənˈdɛmɪk]Canada, General-American/pænˈdemɪk/Australia
  1. Alternative letter-case form of Pandemic (“of Aphrodite Pandemos, the earthly aspect of the Greek goddess of beauty and love Aphrodite and her Roman counterpart Venus, as contrasted with the heavenly aspect known as Aphrodite Urania: earthly, physical, sensual.”).

    Greek · Roman · alt-of · not-comparable · rare
Where this word comes from

See Pandemic.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.