communicable disease
7
3.6
- noun
- /kəˈmjunɪkəbl dɪˈziːz/
- Specialized
:
enfermedad transmisible
- Doctors recommend immunizations to protect against communicable diseases like measles and mumps.
- communicable disease outbreak
- spread of communicable diseases
- communicable disease control
Examples
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The Health Protection Unit also participates in communicable disease surveillance and emergency preparedness.
Academic text (2004) -
Country of origin data may provide clues to possible outbreaks of communicable diseases; for example, strains of certain illnesses.
Academic text (2008) -
Instead, they are most often responsible for all communicable disease investigations and reporting for their state.
Academic text (2010) -
Environmental health officers receive training for communicable disease investigations and surveillance through numerous methods.
Academic text (2004) -
Conferences and professional journals provide additional opportunities for communicable disease education.
Academic text (2004) -
The Vancouver environmental health officers have numerous opportunities to learn about communicable disease control and epidemiology.
Academic text (2004) -
The Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors offers a continuing education program on communicable disease.
Academic text (2004) -
The class saw a video on communicable diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis B.
Academic text (1995) -
The role of the communicable disease environmental health officer includes investigating suspected foodborne illnesses.
Academic text (2004) -
Recent estimates of the global incidence of disease suggest that communicable diseases account for 19% of global deaths (22).
Academic text (2013)
Synonyms
37
3.0
A disease caused by germs that can spread from person to person
14
6.8
The spread of an infectious disease between people
5
3.2
A disease that easily spreads between people
Antonyms
How Contagious
1
3.5
5
3.2
- Specialized
7
3.6
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a disease that can be passed from one person or animal to another' is directly and transparently composed from 'communicable' (capable of spreading) plus 'disease' (a medical condition). This is a straightforward compositional noun phrase with clear cross‑linguistic equivalents (e.g., Spanish 'enfermedad contagiosa'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Communicable disease comes from the idea that communicable means 'able to be shared' or passed on. Imagine a cough or a cold moving like a cup or a message from one person to another—this image explains why the phrase means a sickness that can be 'spread' between people.