Dutch elm disease

English

Etymology

Named after the country in which the disease was first identified. (It is not specific to Dutch elms.)

Noun

Dutch elm disease (uncountable)

  1. (phytopathology) A disease of elm trees caused by ascomycete fungi in the genus Ophiostoma and spread by bark beetles.
    • 1980, AA Book of English Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 67:
      The village is a dignified place of thatch, half-timbering, box hedges and neat farms, set among elms (though not as many as formerly, since Dutch elm disease took its toll) on the level plain of the Pewsey Vale.
    • 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 296:
      The process began 50 years ago when Europe’s elms were ravaged by the beetle-borne fungal malady misnamed ʻDutch elm diseaseʼ (which, in fact, is Asian).

Translations

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