Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA perceived change in some function, sensation or appearance of a person that indicates a disease or disorder, such as fever, headache or rash; strictly, a symptom is felt or experienced by the patient, while a sign can be detected by an observer.
nounA signal; anything that indicates, or is characteristic of, the presence of something else, especially of something undesirable.
Sentence Examples
Do you have this symptom often?
Is this the first time you've had this symptom?
CEFR Practice Quiz
A high fever is a common ____ of the flu virus in winter.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A high temperature is often a common ____ of a viral infection that needs to be treated by a doctor today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English sinthoma, from Medieval Latin sinthoma, altered by Late Latin symptoma, from Ancient Greek σύμπτωμα (súmptōma, “a happening, accident, symptom of disease”), from stem of συμπίπτω (sumpíptō, “Ι befall”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + πίπτω (píptō, “to fall”). See also syn-, -oma, -ome.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""Nay, nay," exclaimed Lord Norbourne, "I cannot go quite so far as that. I have, thanks to your hospitality, laid in a stock of health enough for the ensuing winter: but as to the general benevolence of which you talk, I confess I find no symptoms: if I did, they would alarm me more than those of the gout.""
— 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 114–115:
"Some people see birth outside of marriage as a social problem—a sign of a breakdown in the traditional family and a symptom of moral decay."
— 2009, Charles Zastrow, Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare: