miasma
English
WOTD – 31 January 2007
Etymology
First attested in 1665. From Ancient Greek μίασμα (míasma, “stain; pollution”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /miˈæzmə/, /maɪˈæzmə/
- (US) enPR: mī-ăz'mə, mē- ăz'mə, IPA(key): /maɪˈæzmə/, /miˈæzmə/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -æzmə
- Homophone: my asthma
Noun
miasma (plural miasmas or miasmata)
- A noxious atmosphere or emanation once thought to originate from swamps and waste, and to cause disease.
- 1897, Bram Stoker, “Jonathan Harker’s Journal”, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter XIX, page 276:
- There was an earthy smell, as of some dry miasma, which came through the fouler air.
- (figurative) A noxious atmosphere or influence, an ominous environment.
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:miasma.
Related terms
Translations
noxious emanation that originates from swamps and causes disease
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noxious atmosphere or influence; ominous environment
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See also
Further reading
- miasma theory on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- miasma (Greek mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
Dutch
Etymology
First attested in 1778. Borrowed from New Latin miasma, from Ancient Greek μίασμα (míasma, “stain, pollution”).[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌmiˈɑs.maː/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: mi‧as‧ma
- Rhymes: -ɑsmaː
Noun
miasma n (plural miasmata or miasma's, diminutive miasmaatje n)
- miasma (noxious atmosphere or influence)
- (medicine, historical) miasma (emanation from rotting organic matter causing diseases)
Derived terms
- miasmatisch
References
- ^ van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “miasma”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
Finnish
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μίασμα (míasma, “stain, pollution”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmiɑsmɑ/, [ˈmiɑ̝s̠mɑ̝]
- Rhymes: -iɑsmɑ
- Syllabification(key): mi‧as‧ma
- Hyphenation(key): mi‧as‧ma
Noun
miasma
- miasma (noxious atmosphere from swamps)
Declension
| Inflection of miasma (Kotus type 13/katiska, no gradation) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | miasma | miasmat | |
| genitive | miasman | miasmoiden miasmoitten miasmojen | |
| partitive | miasmaa | miasmoita miasmoja | |
| illative | miasmaan | miasmoihin | |
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | miasma | miasmat | |
| accusative | nom. | miasma | miasmat |
| gen. | miasman | ||
| genitive | miasman | miasmoiden miasmoitten miasmojen miasmain rare | |
| partitive | miasmaa | miasmoita miasmoja | |
| inessive | miasmassa | miasmoissa | |
| elative | miasmasta | miasmoista | |
| illative | miasmaan | miasmoihin | |
| adessive | miasmalla | miasmoilla | |
| ablative | miasmalta | miasmoilta | |
| allative | miasmalle | miasmoille | |
| essive | miasmana | miasmoina | |
| translative | miasmaksi | miasmoiksi | |
| abessive | miasmatta | miasmoitta | |
| instructive | — | miasmoin | |
| comitative | See the possessive forms below. | ||
| Possessive forms of miasma (Kotus type 13/katiska, no gradation) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Italian
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μίασμα (míasma, “stain, pollution”).
Noun
miasma m (plural miasmi)
Portuguese
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin miasma, from Ancient Greek μίασμα (míasma, “pollution”).
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /miˈaz.mɐ/ [mɪˈaz.mɐ], (faster pronunciation) /ˈmjaz.mɐ/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /miˈaʒ.mɐ/ [mɪˈaʒ.mɐ], (faster pronunciation) /ˈmjaʒ.mɐ/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /miˈaz.ma/ [mɪˈaz.ma], (faster pronunciation) /ˈmjaz.ma/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈmjaʒ.mɐ/
Noun
miasma m (plural miasmas)
- miasma (noxious atmosphere or influence)
- (medicine, historical) miasma (noxious emanation from swamps that was thought to cause diseases)
Related terms
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmjasma/ [ˈmjaz.ma]
- Rhymes: -asma
- Syllabification: mias‧ma
Noun
miasma m (plural miasmas)
Further reading
- “miasma”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024