diphtheria : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: diphtheria	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for diphtheria
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
diphtheria n acute contagious infection caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae; marked by the formation of a false membrane in the throat and other air passages causing difficulty in breathing
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Diphtheria \Diphthe"ria\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. [?] leather (hence taken in the sense of membrane): cf. [?] to make soft, L. depsere to knead.] (Med.) A very dangerous contagious disease in which the air passages, and especially the throat, become coated with a false membrane, produced by the solidification of an inflammatory exudation. Cf. {Group}.