Diseases is the plural noun for conditions that impair normal body or mind function. It refers to illnesses or disorders, typically caused by pathogens or systemic dysfunction, and recognized as affecting health. In everyday use, it covers a broad range of medical problems from mild complaints to serious conditions.
"The spread of diseases like influenza is a major public-health concern."
"Researchers are studying how chronic diseases develop as people age."
"Vaccinations help prevent many common infectious diseases."
"The hospital reported a reduction in hospital-acquired diseases after new protocols were implemented."
Disease comes from Old French maladie, from Latin morbus, meaning ‘illness’ or ‘sickness’. The English term entered Middle English via Anglo-French, shifting toward the plural diseases in the 13th–15th centuries to refer to multiple illnesses. Morbus itself traces to Proto-Indo-European roots, with cognates in several languages reflecting a state of sickness. Throughout the late medieval to early modern periods, disease broadened from a primarily bodily ailment to include psychological or societal maladies, gaining scientific precision as medicine advanced. The modern medical sense settled in the 18th–19th centuries as germ theory and pathology formalized disease as a condition with identifiable etiologies, rather than a moral or supernatural failing. First known use in English literature appears in the 14th century, with increasing frequency in medical, legal, and public-health discourse as urban populations and scientific understanding expanded.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Diseases" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Diseases" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Diseases"
-ses sounds
-zes sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
🎵 Rhyme tip: Practicing with rhyming words helps you master similar sound patterns and improves your overall pronunciation accuracy.
You say /dɪˈziːzɪz/. Stress falls on the second syllable: di-SI-zez. The final -es is pronounced as zɪz, so it sounds like DI-zeez-iz, with the first syllable a short i and the long ee in the stressed second syllable. Tip: keep the vowel of the second syllable tense and the lips rounded slightly for the z sound.
Two common errors: misplacing stress (saying di-SEE-ziz) and reducing the second syllable to a schwa or short 'i' (dɪˈzɪzɪz). Correction: maintain /ɪˈziː/ in the stressed syllable and ensure the second and third syllables end with a clear /zɪz/ rather than a muted ending. Practice with the minimal pair ‘disease’ vs. ‘diseases’ to notice the added /ɪz/ suffix.
US: /dɪˈziːzɪz/ with a rhotic quality; UK: /dɪˈsiːzɪz/ with a crisper /s/ and less rhoticity; AU: similar to US but with slightly flatter intonation and vowel quality; all retain stress on the second syllable, but vowel length sometimes perceived as shorter in informal speech.
The difficulty lies in sustaining a long vowel in the stressed syllable before a rapid cluster -zɪz at the end. Your tongue must stay high for /iː/ while transitioning to the alveolar /z/ and the final /ɪz/. For speakers with a trailing short vowel or reduced second syllable, it can collapse to /dɪˈziz/ or /dɪˈziːz/ with a soft ending.
No silent letters here. The word is pronounced with all letters contributing: d-i-s-e-a-s-e-s map to /dɪˈziːzɪz/, with each segment audible. The challenge is the two-syllable structure plus adding the /ɪz/ suffix sound at the end, which makes it longer than the base word 'disease.'
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