pandemic
/pænˈdemɪk/pan-DEH-mik
/pænˈdɛmɪk/pan-DEH-mik
Meaningof all the people
Common meaning: a disease spread across a whole region or the world
- panall, everyLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1160 · scan
- dema country district; the ordinary peopleLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 183 · scan
- icadjective ending: relating to
‘all, every’ + ‘a country district’ → pandemic
Journey through time
Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.
- pan — Greek πᾶς, παντός “all, every” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- dem — Ancient Greek δῆμος (dêmos) “a country district; the ordinary people” (dictionary form; path not traced)
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek πᾶς ‘all, every’ + Ancient Greek δῆμος (dêmos) ‘a country district; the ordinary people’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry δῆμος (dêmos), p. 183 · dictionary scan
Roots
- δῆμος (dêmos) Ancient Greek “a country district; the ordinary people”
- πᾶς, παντός Greek “all, every”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app