morbidity

English

Etymology

Recorded since 1656; from morbid, from Latin morbidus (“diseased”), from morbus (“disease”), from the root of morī (“to die”) or from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to rub, pound, wear away”).

Noun

morbidity (countable and uncountable, plural morbidities)

1. The quality of being unhealthful or diseased, sometimes including the cause.
2. The quality of being morbid; an attitude or state of mind marked by gloom.
   • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:

     He taught him how to be superior to human foibles and how to give a godlike laugh at himself as a way of fending off morbidity. He did all the things for him that a woman is grateful for, except that Magnus is a man.

3. (medicine) The incidence of a disease, as a rate of a population which is affected.
4. (medicine, countable) An occurrence of illness or disease, or a single symptom of that illness.
5. (medicine, countable) Adverse effects caused by a medical treatment such as surgery.
6. (demography, insurance) The sickness rate of a population.

Synonyms

• morbidness
• unwholesomeness

Derived terms

• comorbidity (co-morbidity), hypermorbidity

Related terms

• morbidezza
• morbidly
• morbific
• morbilli

 

Translations

quality of being unhealthful or diseased

• Azerbaijani: xəstəlik (az)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 病態／病态 (zh) (bìngtài)

• Dutch: morbiditeit (nl), ziekelijkheid (nl)
• Finnish: sairaus (fi), sairaalloisuus (fi)
• French: morbidité (fr) f
• Georgian: ავადობის (avadobis)
• German: Morbidität (de) f
• Greek: νοσηρός (el) m (nosirós)
• Kazakh: аурушаңдық (auruşañdyq)
• Portuguese: morbilidade f
• Romanian: morbiditate (ro) f
• Spanish: enfermo (es) m, morbido

quality of being morbid

• Finnish: synkkyys (fi), synkkämielisyys (fi)

incidence of a disease as a rate

• Bulgarian: заболеваемост f (zabolevaemost)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 发病率 (zh) (fābìnglǜ)

• Dutch: morbiditeit (nl), ziektecijfer (nl)
• Finnish: sairastuvuus
• French: morbidité (fr) f
• German: Morbidität (de) f
• Hebrew: תַּחְלוּאָה f
• Hungarian: megbetegedési arányszám
• Italian: morbosità (it) f
• Portuguese: morbilidade f
• Romanian: morbiditate (ro) f
• Russian: заболеваемость (ru) f (zabolevajemostʹ)
• Swedish: morbiditet (sv)

occurrence of illness or disease, or a single symptom of that illness

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 发病 (zh) (fābìng)

• Czech: morbidita f
• Dutch: morbiditeit (nl), ziekte (nl), ziekelijkheid (nl)
• Finnish: sairastuminen (fi)
• Hebrew: תַּחְלוּאָה f
• Portuguese: morbilidade f
• Romanian: morbiditate (ro) f

adverse effects caused by a medical treatment

sickness rate of a population

• Finnish: sairastavuus (fi)

See also

• soreness
• valetudinarianism