Definition

1. Noun (Archaic):
   • Epidemic / Pestilence: A widespread outbreak of a contagious and often severe infectious disease that causes high mortality within a population or region. This term is primarily found in classical or historical texts.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Thời xưa, dịch lệ thường cướp đi sinh mạng của hàng ngàn người. (In ancient times, pestilence often claimed the lives of thousands.)
  • Sử sách ghi chép về một trận dịch lệ khủng khiếp. (Historical records document a terrible epidemic.)

Advanced Usage

• This term is almost exclusively used in a historical, literary, or formal context. In modern Vietnamese, the common word for "epidemic" is "dịch bệnh" or simply "dịch".

Variants and Related Words

• Dịch (n): epidemic, pandemic. The modern, general term.

  • dịch COVID-19 (the COVID-19 pandemic)

• Dịch bệnh (n): disease epidemic. The standard contemporary compound.

  • kiểm soát dịch bệnh (disease control)

• Đại dịch (n): pandemic (a very widespread epidemic).

  • đại dịch cúm (influenza pandemic)

Synonyms

• Epidemic: a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease.
• Pestilence: a fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague.
• Plague: a contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium.

Related Idioms

• Tai ương dịch lệ: A calamity of pestilence. This phrase describes epidemic disease as a great disaster or scourge.
  • Vùng đất đó từng hứng chịu tai ương dịch lệ. (That land once suffered the calamity of pestilence.)