Spanish influenza

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Spanish influenza^¹

Where it comes from

Named after Spain, which reported on the spread of disease as a neutral state while most other countries fighting World War I impose censorship, leading to a mistaken impression that it was concentrated in Spain.

noun Spanish Influenza · Spanish flu · Spanish Flu

uncountable A form of influenza that spread to nearly every part of the world in a pandemic between 1918 and 1920, killing from 20 to 100 million people. By systematic organization and effort we have been endeavoring to combat Spanish Influenza in Luzerne County, with its population of 350,000 souls.
Similar: purulent bronchitis

Spanish Influenza^²

noun

uncountable Alternative letter-case form of Spanish influenza

Translations

Every language

noun influenza pandemic

Español	gripe española, gripe de 1918, gripe de 18
日本語	スペイン風邪 Supein kaze, スペインかぜ
中文	西班牙流感 Xībānyá liúgǎn
Português	gripe espanhola
Deutsch	Spanische Grippe
Русский	испа́нка ispánka

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MLA

"Spanish influenza." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spanish%20influenza. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

Spanish influenza. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spanish%20influenza

Chicago

"Spanish influenza." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spanish%20influenza.

BibTeX

@misc{spanish_influenza_2026,
  title = {Spanish influenza},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spanish%20influenza},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}