the.com/pandemic
An epidemic that got a passport and frequent-flyer status.
means A disease outbreak that has spread across multiple countries or continents, infecting a large number of people at once.
from From Greek 'pandemos' — 'pan' (all) plus 'demos' (the people), meaning literally 'affecting all the people.' The same 'demos' that gives us 'democracy.' It entered English medical writing in the 1600s as the natural big sibling to 'epidemic' (upon the people) — once a disease stopped staying local and started affecting everyone, everywhere, it needed a bigger word.
- not severity
- Pandemic describes spread, not how deadly it is
- WHO's word
- WHO decides when to officially use the label
- 1918 precedent
- Spanish flu killed more than World War I
- etymology cousin
- Pandemonium literally means all the demons