enteric fever
- noun
- /ˈɛn.tə.rɪk ˈfiː.vər/
- Specialized
- To prevent enteric fever, make sure to drink clean water and eat properly cooked food.
Examples
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Travelers to areas with poor sanitation should be aware of enteric fever and take precautions.
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Brown, enteric fever.
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The doctor diagnosed him with enteric fever after he developed severe abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Synonyms
A serious illness that causes high fever and stomach pain and spreads by unsafe food or water
A serious bacterial illness spread by dirty food or water causing high fever and stomach pain
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound meaning is directly derivable from 'enteric' (pertaining to the intestines) + 'fever' (high body temperature): it denotes a fever originating in the intestines. Although 'enteric' is somewhat technical, the semantic composition is transparent and similar calques exist in many languages, so a learner who knows both constituents will grasp the meaning.
Etymology
Enteric fever comes from an old Greek word 'enteron' meaning 'intestine', and enteric points to the gut. That's why the name refers to a fever that mainly affects the intestines and causes belly pain and a high temperature.