Typhi

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of bacteria belonging to the genus Salmonella, which can cause typhoid fever in humans
2. Referring to an infectious disease transmitted through contaminated food or water, characterized by high fever and gastrointestinal symptoms
3. Designating the various strains of bacterium associated with salmonellosis, often linked to poor sanitation and hygiene

Etymology: "Typhi" is the Latin genitive form of "typhus," so it appears in scientific names rather than in everyday English. The bacterium "Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi," which causes typhoid fever, takes its specific epithet from the Latin for typhus, with "typhoid" itself meaning "typhus-like." Here "typhi" is the genitive, meaning "of typhus," the way a species name often names what it is associated with. The root goes back to Greek "typhos," meaning smoke or vapour, and later "typhos" as a stupor or fever. Ancient Greek physicians used the term for fevers that clouded the mind, and the Greek word was borrowed into Latin as "typhus." English took "typhus" in the 18th century, and "typhoid" was coined in the 1830s by the physician William Jenner, who recognised typhoid as distinct from typhus.

Synonyms: typhoid fever, enteric fever