GC: n

S: WHO – http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs100/en/ (last access: 6 December 2013) ; NHS – http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Yellow-fever/Pages/Introduction.aspx (last access: 7 August 2015).

N: 1. – yellow (adj): Middle English yelwe, from Old English geolu, geolwe, “yellow,” from Proto-Germanic *gelwaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German gelo, Middle Dutch ghele, Dutch geel, Middle High German gel, German gelb, Old Norse gulr, Swedish gul “yellow”), from PIE root *ghel- (2) “to shine,” with derivatives denoting “green” and “yellow” (such as Greek khlōros “greenish-yellow,” Latin helvus “yellowish, bay”).

In Middle English it also was used of a color closer to blue-gray or gray, of frogs or hazel eyes, and as a translation of Latin caeruleus or glauco. The meaning “light-skinned” (in reference to black persons) is recorded by 1808. It was applied to Asiatics by 1787, though that first reference is to Turkish words for inhabitants of India.

Yellow peril translates German die gelbe gefahr. The sense of “cowardly” is by 1856, of unknown origin; the color was traditionally associated rather with jealousy and envy (17c.). Yellow-bellied “cowardly” is from 1924, probably a semi-rhyming reduplication of yellow; earlier yellow-belly was a sailor’s name for a half-caste (1867) and a Texas term for Mexican soldiers (1842, based on the color of their uniforms). Yellow dog “mongrel” is attested from c. 1770; the slang sense of “contemptible person” is recorded by 1881. Yellow fever is attested from 1748, American English (jaundice is a symptom).

– fever (n): earlier also feaver, late Old English fefor, fefer “fever, temperature of the body higher than normal,” from Latin febris “fever,” related to fovere “to warm, heat,” which is probably from PIE root *dhegh- “burn” (source also of Gothic dags, Old English dæg “day,” originally “the heat;” Greek tephra “ashes;” Lithuanian dāgas “heat,” Old Prussian dagis “summer;” Middle Irish daig “fire”); but some suggest a reduplication of a root represented by Sanskrit *bhur- “to be restless.”

The Latin word was adopted into most of the Germanic languages (German Fieber, Swedish feber, Danish feber), but not Dutch. English spelling was influenced by Old French fievre.

An alternative word for “fever” was Old English hrið, hriðing (which is cognate with Old High German hritto, Irish crith, Welsh cryd, Lithuanian skriečiù, skriesti); Latin febris also was glossed by bryneadl. The extended sense of “intense nervous excitement” is from 1580s. Also as a verb in Old English, feferian.

2. yellow fever, Aedes aegypti acute infectious disease, one of the great epidemic diseases of the tropical world, though it sometimes has occurred in temperate zones as well.

• The disease, caused by a flavivirus, infects humans, all species of monkeys, and certain other small mammals.
• The virus is transmitted from animals to humans and among humans by several species of mosquitoes.
• Yellow fever appears with a sudden onset of fever, chills, headache, backache, nausea, and vomiting. The skin and eyes may appear yellow—a condition known as jaundice and a sign that gives rise to the disease’s popular name.
• There is no specific treatment for those with yellow fever beyond good nursing and supportive care.

3. Yellow fever is difficult to diagnose, especially during the early stages. It can be confused with severe malaria, dengue hemorrhagic fever, leptospirosis, viral hepatitis (especially the fulminating forms of hepatitis B and D), other hemorrhagic fevers (Bolivian, Argentine, Venezuelan hemorrhagic fevers and others flavivirus as West Nile, Zika virus etc) and other diseases, as well as poisoning. Blood tests can detect yellow fever antibodies produced in response to the infection. Several other techniques are used to identify the virus in blood specimens or liver tissue collected after death. These tests require highly trained laboratory staff and specialized equipment and materials.

S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=yellow+fever (last access: 15 August 2024). 2. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/science/yellow-fever (last access: 7 August 2015). 3. WHO – http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs100/en/ (last access: 6 December 2013).

SYN:
S:

CR: Aedes aegypti, Aedes japonicus, dengue, hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, Stegomyia albopicta, yellow fever virus, Zika virus.