GC: n

S: WHO – http://www.who.int/topics/epidemiology/en/ (last access: 20 November 2014); EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/189810/epidemiology (last access: 26 November 2014).

N: 1. “study of epidemics, science of epidemic diseases,” 1850, from Greek epidemios, literally “among the people, of one’s countrymen at home” + –logy. epidemic (n): 1757, “an epidemic disease, a temporary prevalence of a disease throughout a community,” from epidemic (adj.); earlier epideme. An Old English noun for this (persisting in Middle English) was man–cwealm.
2. Branch of medical science that studies the distribution of disease in human populations and the factors determining that distribution, chiefly by the use of statistics. Unlike other medical disciplines, epidemiology concerns itself with groups of people rather than individual patients and is frequently retrospective, or historical, in nature. It developed out of the search for causes of human disease in the 19th century, and one of its chief functions remains the identification of populations at high risk for a given disease so that the cause may be identified and preventive measures implemented.
3. The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations.
4. Usually restricted to epidemic and endemic, but sometimes broadened to include all types of disease.
5. epidemiology: term and definition standardized by the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Glossary English Editorial Board and the Translation Bureau.

S: 1. OED- http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=epidemic&searchmode=none (last access: 20 November 2014). 2. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/189810/epidemiology (last access: 26 November 2014). 3 to 5. TERMIUM PLUS – https://bit.ly/2DussnU (last access: 29 November 2019).

SYN:
S:

CR: cyst, endemic disease, epidemic, epizootic, pandemic, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, trench fever.