measles
UK/ˈmiːzəlz//ˈmizəlz/
measles noun: an acute and highly contagious disease which often afflicts children caused by the virus Measles morbillivirus and causing red rashes, fever, runny nose, coughing, and red eyes. Also the plural of measle.
Noun
measles (uncountable)
- An acute and highly contagious disease which often afflicts children caused by the virus Measles morbillivirus and causing red rashes, fever, runny nose, coughing, and red eyes.
- Maybe it's the 'measles. They say they're going around the neighborhood.1970, Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, page 78
- Olivia, my eldest daughter, caught measles when she was seven years old. As the illness took its usual course I can remember reading to her often in bed and not feeling particularly alarmed about it.1986, Roald Dahl, Measles: A Dangerous Illness
- Synonym of cysticercosis: A disease of livestock or meat caused by the presence of tapeworm larvae.
- The Swyne dyed of the Measils.1641, Ben Jonson, Timber
- Porcine measles, thought by classical writers to be leprosy, is actually the result of tapeworm cysts which cause ulcerations of the pig's tongue.1992, Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, translated by Anthea Bell, The History of Food, page 416
- Synonyms:
- cysticercosis
- Any disease causing a tree's bark to become rough and irregular.
- Their fruit-trees are subject to two diseases, the Meazels... and lowsiness.1674, John Josselyn, An Account of Two Voyages to New-England, page 190
- A discreet assassination made to look like death from natural causes.
- […] they would prefer having him "die of the measles," as wags at the CIA put it, than be punished by legal means. If there is no convenient way of administering the "measles," they may even favor simply letting him go.1975, Miles Copeland, Beyond Cloak and Dagger: Inside the CIA, page 204
- Such final solutions, sometimes referred to as termination with extreme prejudice, are known in the CIA as dying of the measles — that is, the death appears to be of natural causes.1977, Raymond Edward Palmer, The Making of a Spy, page 99
- Any disease causing red rashes.
- Used as an intensifier.
- Why the meazills, should you stand heere, with your traine...1614 November 10 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Beniamin Iohnson [i.e., Ben Jonson], Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1631...
Also used as
measles is also the plural of measle.
measles is also the third-person singular simple present indicative of measle.
measles is also the alternative form of mesels.
measles meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
measles in Hindi
- disease caused by M. morbillivirus
- खसरा khasrā
measles in Tamil
- disease caused by M. morbillivirus
- தட்டம்மை taṭṭammai, சின்னமுத்து ciṉṉamuttu
- Similar skin diseases
- அம்மை ammai
measles in Marathi
- गोवर
measles in Urdu
- disease caused by M. morbillivirus
- خسرہ xasra
More languagesFewer languages
- measles in Telugu
- మీజిల్స్, తట్టు వ్యాధి
- measles in Malayalam
- മീസിൽസ്, മീസൽസ്
- measles in Kannada
- ದಡಾರ
- measles in Punjabi
- ਖਸਰਾ, ਖਸਰੇ
- measles in Odia
- ହାମ ରୋଗକୁ
- measles in Assamese
- সৰু আই xoru ai
- measles in Nepali
- खसरा
- measles in Tagalog
- tigdas
- measles in Arabic
- حَصْبَة ḥaṣba
- measles in Malay
- campak
- measles in Indonesian
- campak
- measles in Persian
- سرخک sorxak
- measles in Thai
- หัด hàt
- measles in Vietnamese
- sởi
Examples of measles in a sentence
- In the camps a case of measles is defined as a generalized rash of three or more days duration, with a fever of at least 38.8°C.., and any one of the following: cough, coryza or conjunctivitis.1990, International Journal of Epidemiology, volume 19, page 1073:
- Although the MMR vaccine was introduced in 1988, Britain offered separate measles injections until 1999.2002 February 10, Sarah Lyall, “Britain Tries to Quell Fear Over Vaccine for Children”, in The New York Times, archived from the original...
Synonyms of measles
Forms of measles
| alternative form | measle |
|---|---|
| alternative form | the measles |
| alternative form | measels |
Origin of measles
Either from Middle Dutch masels (“blood blisters, measels”) or Middle Low German maselen (“red blemishes, measels”), both from Old High German masala (“blood blister, phlegmon”). Doublet of measlings. Cognate with mazer & mase and Middle Low German masele & māsel. Influenced in pronunciation and some senses by mesel (“leprous, leper”).
From Middle English mesel (“leprous, leper”), from Norman mesel (“leprous, leper”), from Old French mesel (“leprous, leper”), from Late Latin misellus (“leper”), from miser (“wretched, wretch”) + -ellus (“-elle”).
Words formed from measles
Phrases with measles
Questions about measles
- What does measles mean?
- Measles means an acute and highly contagious disease which often afflicts children caused by the virus Measles morbillivirus and causing red rashes, fever, runny nose, coughing, and red eyes.
- What is measles in Hindi?
- Measles in Hindi is खसरा (khasrā). See Measles meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use measles in a sentence?
- In the camps a case of measles is defined as a generalized rash of three or more days duration, with a fever of at least 38.8°C.., and any one of the following: cough, coryza or conjunctivitis.
- What part of speech is measles?
- Measles is a noun.
- How do you pronounce measles?
- Measles is pronounced /ˈmizəlz/ (US).
Words near measles in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: measles (page history and authors); measles (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); measles (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); measles (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); measles (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); measles (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); measles (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); measles (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-measles.ogg.
Cite this entry: “measles.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/measles. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.