Usage of Endemic, Epidemic, and Pandemic
This trio of terms describes various degrees of an infectious disease's spread. The process begins with an outbreak—a sudden rise in the presence of a disease. An outbreak that can't be stopped or slowed, and in which the disease is spreading rapidly to many people within a localized community or region (such as a single country), is called an epidemic. The word pandemic refers to an epidemic that has gone international: the disease, once localized in scope, now starts to appear in other countries and even on other continents, typically infecting a large number of people in a short amount of time. A pandemic often has significant economic and social ramifications due to its global impact. If a disease lingers for a long time as an epidemic or a pandemic, it may eventually become endemic to an area. The word endemic describes a disease that persists at a consistent level within a region with fairly predictable rates of infection and spread, making it easier to prevent future outbreaks. Epidemic, pandemic, and endemic all share the Greek root dêmos, meaning "district, country, people."
Did you know?
Ever wonder how endemic ended up in the English language? Endemic made its way into English via French and New Latin and likely has its ultimate origin in the Greek adjective éndēmos, a word with multiple uses, among which is one describing a disease confined to one area. Éndēmos was formed from en- ( “in”) and a form of the noun dêmos, meaning “district, country, people.” That word was also key to the formation of the earlier word on which éndēmos was modeled: epidēmia, meaning “disease affecting a large number of individuals.” English adopted epidemic (also via French) in the early 17th century, but endemic didn’t become, uh, endemic until a century and a half later. (The now too-familiar relation pandemic slipped into the language in the mid 17th.) In current use, endemic characterizes diseases that are generally found in a particular area—malaria, for example, is said to be endemic to tropical and subtropical regions—while epidemic indicates a sudden, severe outbreak within that region or group. Endemic is also used by biologists to characterize plant and animal species that are found only in a given area.
Synonyms
Examples of endemic in a Sentence
Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, New Republic, 6 May 2002
Situated only 250 miles off the coast of Africa, Madagascar is biologically unique. Not only does it have a rich animal and plant life, it also houses a huge number of endemic species found nowhere else on earth.
—Jim Milliot et al., Publishers Weekly, 15 May 2000
The rap performers I enjoy are those who emphasize production values, songcraft and that quality of playfulness endemic to all good pop.
—Francis Davis, Atlantic, October 1993
the fish is not an endemic species of the lake, and it is rapidly devouring the native trout population
Alice Park, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024
Big-name sponsors—some endemic, some not—are signing these girls and women to their skate teams, supporting their filming projects and funding their travel to competitions around the globe.
—Michelle Bruton, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
Incredibly, although these islands make up less than 1 percent of Earth’s inhabited land, the study found that 10 percent of languages are endemic to them — spoken nowhere else.
—Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 21 Oct. 2024
Researchers say the geographic range of infected ticks is a major driver of the babesiosis increase and advise people in newly endemic areas to take precautions to prevent tick bites.
—Sherri Gordon, Health, 18 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for endemic 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'endemic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near endemic
Cite this Entry
“Endemic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endemic. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
endemic
1 of 2 adjective
endemic
2 of 2 noun
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