Measles Meaning
/ˈmizəlz/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn acute and highly contagious disease which often afflicts children caused by the virus Measles morbillivirus and causing red rashes, fever, runny nose, coughing, and red eyes.
nounAny disease causing red rashes.
Sentence Examples
Measles can be quite dangerous.
The twins have come down with measles.
Adults are often immune to German measles.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The child had red spots and a high fever, so the doctor diagnosed him with ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The child had to stay home from school for a week because he had contracted a case of the ____.
Word Origin & History
Either from Middle Dutch masels (“blood blisters, measels”) or Middle Low German maselen (“red blemishes, measels”), both from Old High German masala (“blood blister, phlegmon”). Doublet of measlings. Cognate with mazer & mase and Middle Low German masele & māsel. Influenced in pronunciation and some senses by mesel (“leprous, leper”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Maybe it's the 'measles. They say they're going around the neighborhood."
— 1970, Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, page 78:
"Olivia, my eldest daughter, caught measles when she was seven years old. As the illness took its usual course I can remember reading to her often in bed and not feeling particularly alarmed about it."
— 1986, Roald Dahl, Measles: A Dangerous Illness:
"In the camps a case of measles is defined as a generalized rash of three or more days duration, with a fever of at least 38.8°C.., and any one of the following: cough, coryza or conjunctivitis."
— 1990, International Journal of Epidemiology, volume 19, page 1073:
"Although the MMR vaccine was introduced in 1988, Britain offered separate measles injections until 1999."
— 2002 February 10, Sarah Lyall, “Britain Tries to Quell Fear Over Vaccine for Children”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2021:
"Why the meazills, should you stand heere, with your traine..."
— 1614 November 10 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Beniamin Iohnson [i.e., Ben Jonson], Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1631, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The child had red spots and a high fever, so the doctor diagnosed him with ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The child had to stay home from school for a week because he had contracted a case of the ____.