DISEASE : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: DISEASE	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for DISEASE
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
disease n an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Disease \Disease"\, n. [OE. disese, OF. desaise; des- (L. dis-) + aise ease. See {Ease}.] 1. Lack of ease; uneasiness; trouble; vexation; disquiet. [Obs.] So all that night they passed in great disease. --Spenser. To shield thee from diseases of the world. --Shak. 2. An alteration in the state of the body or of some of its organs, interrupting or disturbing the performance of the vital functions, and causing or threatening pain and weakness; malady; affection; illness; sickness; disorder; -- applied figuratively to the mind, to the moral character and habits, to institutions, the state, etc. Diseases desperate grown, By desperate appliances are relieved. --Shak. The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public counsels have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have every where perished. --Madison. {Disease* germ}. See under {Germ}. Syn: Distemper; ailing; ailment; malady; disorder; sickness; illness; complaint; indisposition; affection. -- {Disease}, {Disorder}, {Distemper}, {Malady}, {Affection}. Disease is the leading medical term. Disorder mean[?] much the same, with perhaps some slight reference to an irregularity of the system. Distemper is now used by physicians only of the diseases of animals. Malady is not a medical term, and is less used than formerly in literature. Affection has special reference to the part, organ, or function disturbed; as, his disease is an affection of the lungs. A disease is usually deep-seated and permanent, or at least prolonged; a disorder is often slight, partial, and temporary; malady has less of a technical sense than the other terms, and refers more especially to the suffering endured. In a figurative sense we speak of a disease mind, of disordered faculties, and of mental maladies.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Disease \Disease"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Diseased}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Diseasing}.] 1. To deprive of ease; to disquiet; to trouble; to distress. [Obs.] His double burden did him sore disease. --Spenser. 2. To derange the vital functions of; to afflict with disease* or sickness; to disorder; -- used almost exclusively in the participle diseased. He was diseased in body and mind. --Macaulay.