meningitis C1 Topic:Health & Medicine US /ˌmɛnənˈdʒaɪtəs/ UK /ˌmɛnɪnˈdʒaɪtɪs/ See IPA manual Freq #20963 Meanings 1 noun infectious disease characterized by inflammation of the meninges (the tissues that surround the brain or spinal cord) usually caused by a bacterial infection Meningitis can cause fever, headache, and a stiff neck. Thesaurus Synonyms meningeal inflammation Etymology From Ancient Greek μῆνῐγξ (mênĭnx) + -itis, equivalent to meninge + -itis. Topics Health & Medicine External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # meningitis **Type:** Word **Level:** C1 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˌmɛnənˈdʒaɪtəs/ **IPA (UK):** /ˌmɛnɪnˈdʒaɪtɪs/ **Frequency rank:** 20963 ## Meanings 1. infectious disease characterized by inflammation of the meninges (the tissues that surround the brain or spinal cord) usually caused by a bacterial infection ## Examples - Meningitis can cause fever, headache, and a stiff neck. ## Synonyms - meningeal inflammation ## Etymology From Ancient Greek μῆνῐγξ (mênĭnx) + -itis, equivalent to meninge + -itis. ## Topics - Health & Medicine markdown