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E·bo·la (ĭ-bōlə, ĕ-, ē-)
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n.
1. A filovirus that causes disease in humans and nonhuman primates and spreads through contact with bodily fluids of infected people and animals. Bats are thought to be the host reservoir for the virus. Also called Ebola virus.
2. An acute, usually fatal form of hemorrhagic fever that is caused by this virus and is characterized by fever, headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding, especially from the mucous membranes and gastrointestinal tract. Also called Ebola disease, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease.
[After the Ebola River in northwest Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the disease was first observed.]
(click for a larger image)
Ebola
Ebola virus
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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