tuberculosis

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tuberculosis

/tjuːˌbɜːkjʊˈləʊsɪs/ UK
/tʃʉwˌbəːkjəˈləwsɪs/ British, Southern, Standard
/tʃʉːˌbeːkjʊˈləʊsɪs/ UK
[-lɛʉ-] ~ [-lɔʊ-] UK
/tʃuːˌbɛːkjʊˈləʊsɪs/ UK
[tʃuːˌbɛːkjʊˈlɵːsɪs] ~ [-lɔʊ-] ~ [-ləʊ-] UK
[tʃʉːˌbɛːkjʊˈlɔːsɪs] ~ [-lɒː-] ~ [-lʊə-] Teesside, UK
/tʃʉˌbɛɾkjəˈlosɪs/ Scotland, UK
/tɪʊˌbøːkjəˈloːsɪs/ UK, Wales
/tuˌbɝkjʊˈloʊsɪs/ Canada, US
/tʊ-/ Canada, US
/tʃʉːˌbɜːkjəˈləʉsəs/ Australia
/tʃʉːˌbøːkjəˈlɐʉsəs/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -əʊsɪs

Where it comes from

To international scientific vocabulary from New Latin tūberculōsis, from Latin tūberculum (diminutive of tūber (“lump”)) + Latin -ōsis (“diseased condition”); by surface analysis, tubercul(um) + -osis; named for the encapsulated colonies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis within the lungs in pulmonary tuberculosis, which can look like small tubers (tubercles) on gross pathology. The disease has existed throughout human experience and had other names for millennia before scientific medicine renamed it with a New Latin term in the mid-19th century (1840s); in English it was called consumption because of the wasting away that consumed health and seemed even to consume flesh in some cases (for example, causing fistulas and tissue breakdown).

noun tuberculoses

countable, uncountable An infectious disease of humans and animals caused by a species of mycobacterium, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mainly infecting the lungs where it causes tubercles characterized by the expectoration of mucus and sputum, fever, weight loss, and chest pain, and transmitted through inhalation or ingestion of bacteria. With smallpox gone, tuberculosis is today the deadliest infectious disease on the planet.
Similar: consumption, phthisic, TB, white death, white man's plague, white plague

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: tb, tuberculous, tuberculin, pneumonia, bacillus, pulmonary, lung, disease, nodule, tbc, white plague, consumption, phthisis, phthisis pulmonalis, scrofula, pott's disease

Translations

Every language

noun infectious disease

Español	tuberculosis
한국어	결핵 gyeolhaek
日本語	結核 kekkaku
中文	結核 /结核 jiéhé, 肺結核 /肺结核 fèijiéhé, 結核病 /结核病 jiéhébìng
हिन्दी	यक्ष्मा yakṣmā, क्षयी kṣayī, तपेदिक tapedik, तपेदिक़ tapediq, काली खाँसी kālī khā̃sī
Kiswahili	kifua kikuu
Português	tuberculose
Français	tuberculose
Deutsch	Tuberkulose
Italiano	tubercolosi
Ελληνικά	φυματίωση fymatíosi
Română	tuberculoză
Русский	туберкулёз tuberkuljóz, чахо́тка čaxótka
Tiếng Việt	bệnh lao
العربية	سُلّ sull
עברית	שחפת shakhéfet

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MLA

"tuberculosis." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tuberculosis. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tuberculosis. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tuberculosis

Chicago

"tuberculosis." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tuberculosis.

BibTeX

@misc{tuberculosis_2026,
  title = {tuberculosis},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tuberculosis},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}