outbreak

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The sudden start of something unpleasant, especially a disease.

   The country is dealing with a serious outbreak of flu.

2. 2
   noun

   A sudden burst of violence, anger, or trouble.

   The arrest led to an outbreak of protests across the city.

From Middle English outbreken, oute-breken, from Old English ūtābrecan (“to break out”), equivalent to out- + break. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uutbreeke (“to break out, burst out”), West Frisian útbrekke (“to break out”), Dutch uitbreken (“to break out, burst out”), German ausbrechen (“to break out, erupt”). The noun is cognate with Saterland Frisian Uutbreek (“outbreak”), West Frisian útbrek (“outbreak”), Dutch uitbraak (“outbreak”), and German Ausbruch (“outbreak”), and is comparable to Danish udbrud (“outbreak”), Faroese and Icelandic útbrot (“rash”), Norwegian utbrudd (“outbreak”), an…

Topics