每日单词:influenza
基本释义
influenza: A highly contagious viral infection of the respiratory passages causing fever, severe aching, and catarrh, and often occurring in epidemics.
n. 流行性感冒
Scientists have long debated why flu erupts when the days grow chilly. Is it that we spend more time cooped up together indoors? Or is there something about the virus that likes it cold and dry? To find out, researchers suspended influenza virus in a solution that mimics human mucus. They incubated this infectious soup at different humidities and measured viral survival.
——《科学美国人》
十八世纪中叶,在意大利罗马爆发了一场传染病,它来势凶猛,而且蔓延极广,扩及整个欧洲大陆和隔海的英国。当时罗马人十分相信占星术,认为这是星体影响所致,就把这场流行病称作 influenza,这个词在意大利语是“影响”的意思,相当于英语中的单词 influence(n. 影响,作用)。
后来英语直接把这个词借了过来,用以表示“流行性感冒”,有时候也会简写成 flu。
infection /ɪnˈfekʃn/
An infection is a disease caused by germs or bacteria.
n. 传染病
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