disease

Definitions

dis- (reverse of, away) + ease = literally 'un-ease,' the loss of comfort. The word began as a general sense of discomfort or trouble, then narrowed over centuries into the medical meaning we use today: a named illness. So our everyday word for sickness is, at heart, just 'not being at ease.'

Why It Means This

disease is the family's biggest surprise: the same ease that means 'comfort' and 'no effort' sits inside the most clinical word for sickness. The dis- didn't add a new idea so much as flip the comfort into its opposite. Knowing this also fixes the spelling — it's dis + ease, two s's around one e, not 'desease.'

Common Collocations

• 1.infectious disease传染病
• 2.heart disease心脏病
• 3.disease prevention疾病预防
• 4.chronic disease慢性病
• 5.spread of disease疾病传播

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Heart disease remains one of the leading causes of death.

• 2.

  The new vaccine protects against several infectious diseases.

• 3.

  Early detection makes many diseases far easier to treat.

• 4.

  Corruption is a disease that slowly weakens any institution.

Easily Confused

disease vs illness vs sickness — disease is a specific, often diagnosable medical condition with a cause (heart disease, a rare disease); illness is the broader experience of being unwell, more subjective (a long illness, mental illness); sickness is the most everyday/informal and also covers nausea (morning sickness, motion sickness). You catch a disease; you feel an illness.