See Also: influenza(encyclopedia)
influenza(dictionary)
influenza B(medicine)
Influenza(medicine)
Influenza(health)
Influenza c(medicine)
Influenza a(medicine)
influenza(dictionary)
Influenza meningitis(medicine)
influenza b virus(medicine)

influenza (iou)



influenza noun. M18.
[Italian, lit. 'influence', from medieval Latin influentia INFLUENCE noun. Cf. FLU.]
A highly contagious viral infection of the lining of the trachea and bronchi, often epidemic, and usu. marked by fever, weakness, muscular aches, coughing, and watery catarrh. Freq. loosely, any acute respiratory infection accompanied by fever.
gastric influenza: see GASTRIC adjective. Spanish influenza: see SPANISH adjective.
? Italian influenza has, in addition to the various senses of English influence, that of 'outbreak of an epidemic', hence absol. 'an epidemic'; its specific application to the 1743 influenza epidemic which began in Italy led to its adoption as the standard English term for the disease.
influenzal adjective E19.