ENDEMIC

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does endemic mean? 

• ENDEMIC (noun)
  The noun ENDEMIC has 2 senses:

1. a disease that is constantly present to a greater or lesser degree in people of a certain class or in people living in a particular location

2. a plant that is native to a certain limited area

  Familiarity information: ENDEMIC used as a noun is rare.

• ENDEMIC (adjective)
  The adjective ENDEMIC has 3 senses:

1. of or relating to a disease (or anything resembling a disease) constantly present to greater or lesser extent in a particular locality

2. native to or confined to a certain region

3. originating where it is found

  Familiarity information: ENDEMIC used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENDEMIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A disease that is constantly present to a greater or lesser degree in people of a certain class or in people living in a particular location

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

endemic; endemic disease

Hypernyms ("endemic" is a kind of...):

disease (an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A plant that is native to a certain limited area

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Context example:

it is an endemic found only this island

Hypernyms ("endemic" is a kind of...):

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

• ENDEMIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to a disease (or anything resembling a disease) constantly present to greater or lesser extent in a particular locality

Synonyms:

endemic; endemical

Context example:

food shortages and starvation are endemic in certain parts of the world

Similar:

enzootic (of a disease that is constantly present in an animal community but only occurs in a small number of cases)

Antonym:

ecdemic (of or relating to a disease that originates outside the locality in which it occurs)

epidemic ((especially of medicine) of disease or anything resembling a disease; attacking or affecting many individuals in a community or a population simultaneously)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Native to or confined to a certain region

Context example:

the islands have a number of interesting endemic species

Domain category:

bionomics; ecology; environmental science (the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment)

Antonym:

cosmopolitan (growing or occurring in many parts of the world)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Originating where it is found

Synonyms:

autochthonal; autochthonic; autochthonous; endemic; indigenous

Context example:

the Ainu are indigenous to the northernmost islands of Japan

Similar:

native (characteristic of or existing by virtue of geographic origin)

 Context examples 

There are three main types of Burkitt lymphoma (sporadic, endemic, and immunodeficiency related).

(Burkitt lymphoma, NCI Dictionary)

The exception is the Middle East along the Nile Valley, where it represents the most common form of carcinoma because of the endemic nature of schistosomiasis.

(Bladder Squamous Cell Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

An endemic disease that is characterized by the development of single or multiple localized lesions on exposed areas of skin that typically ulcerate.

(Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

An acute viral respiratory infection caused by a strain of influenza virus which is endemic in swine (pigs).

(H1N1 Influenza, NCI Thesaurus)

An endemic bacterial infection caused by Treponema carateum.

(Pinta, NCI Thesaurus)

Powassan is the only endemic flavivirus spread by ticks in North America, where it is considered a re-emerging virus.

(Tick salivary glands can be a tool to study virus transmission and infection, National Institutes of Health)

It is transmitted by flies and is endemic in various regions of Sub-Saharan Africa.

(African Trypanosomiasis, NCI Thesaurus)

They then tested for the top three biomarkers on samples from people with early Lyme disease, from healthy individuals from areas where Lyme disease is endemic, and from people with Lyme arthritis.

(Scientists work toward a rapid point-of-care diagnostic test for Lyme disease, National Institutes of Health)

Scientists have developed an investigational vaccine that protected cynomolgus macaques against four types of hemorrhagic fever viruses endemic to overlapping regions in Africa.

(Study vaccine protects monkeys against four types of hemorrhagic fever viruse, National Institutes of Health)

Considered a neglected disease, leishmaniasis is endemic in 98 countries and causes 70,000 deaths a year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

(Study uncovers cause of aggressive leishmaniasis strain, SciDev.Net)