What does tuberculosis mean?
Tuberculosis, commonly shortened to TB, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It most often affects the lungs, where it may produce coughing, fever, night sweats, and weight loss, but it can also involve other parts of the body. A person can carry the bacteria without showing symptoms, a state known as latent infection, whereas active disease causes illness and may spread through the air when an infectious person coughs, speaks, or sings. The word belongs mainly to medical and public-health contexts and has serious historical associations with overcrowding, poverty, and epidemics. Tuberculosis remains preventable and treatable, although drug-resistant strains make careful diagnosis and treatment essential. The term was borrowed from Latin and refers to a condition involving tubercles, small swellings associated with affected tissues. It is useful to know because TB is both a specific infectious illness and a powerful example of how a disease can become closely identified with a period of social history.
nounAn infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, usually affecting the lungs but sometimes involving other parts of the body.
- An infectious bacterial disease that most commonly affects the lungs and can also involve other organs.
"Early diagnosis and effective treatment can make tuberculosis a curable disease."
"A chest X-ray and laboratory tests helped diagnose pulmonary tuberculosis."
"Public-health officials contact people who have been exposed to tuberculosis and offer screening."
Rare and formal; ordinary usage treats “tuberculosis” as an uncountable disease name.
"The medical journal discussed the different forms of pulmonary tuberculoses encountered during the study."
Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium, not by thin air or bad habits, and it can spread through the air when an infectious person coughs.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tuberculosis come from?
The English word comes from medical Latin tuberculosis, formed from Latin tuberculum, meaning “a small swelling” or “tubercle,” together with the Greek-derived suffix -osis, used in medical terminology for a diseased condition. Latin tuberculum is a diminutive associated with tuber, meaning “swelling.” The term became established in English during the 19th century, when the disease was widely known as consumption.
Related word forms
How tuberculosis is actually used
This is primarily a medical and public-health term, while “TB” is its common everyday abbreviation. It is normally treated as an uncountable noun, although “tuberculoses” is used formally when referring to multiple cases or distinct forms of the disease. “Consumption” and “phthisis” are historical rather than current clinical names.