Phrase guide

common cold

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A very common, mild viral infection of the nose and throat, whose symptoms typically include sneezing, sniffling, a running or blocked nose, a sore throat, coughing and a headache.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a mild viral infection involving the nose and respiratory passages (but not the lungs)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • will they never find a cure for the common cold?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cold

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: communicable disease, respiratory disease, respiratory illness, respiratory disorder

Narrower terms: head cold

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

62 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: زُكَام (zukām) — mild infection
  • Armenian: մրսածություն (mrsacutʻyun) — mild infection
  • Armenian: հարբուխ (harbux) — mild infection
  • Chinese Cantonese: 感冒 (gam2 mou6) — mild infection
  • Chinese Mandarin: 普通感冒 (pǔtōng gǎnmào) — mild infection
  • Chinese Mandarin: 感冒 (gǎnmào) — mild infection
  • Chinese Mandarin: 傷風 /伤风 (shāngfēng) — mild infection
  • Czech: nachlazení — mild infection
  • Danish: forkølelse — mild infection
  • Dutch: verkoudheid — mild infection
  • Esperanto: malvarmumo — mild infection
  • Estonian: tavaline nohu — mild infection
  • Faroese: krím — mild infection
  • Finnish: flunssa — mild infection
  • Finnish: nuhakuume — mild infection
  • Finnish: vilustumistauti — mild infection
  • Finnish: vilustuminen — mild infection
  • French: rhume — mild infection
  • Georgian: გაციება (gacieba) — mild infection
  • German: Erkältung — mild infection
  • German: Verkühlung — mild infection
  • Hindi: सर्दी (sardī) — mild infection
  • Hindi: ज़ुकाम (zukām) — mild infection
  • Hindi: जुकाम (jukām) — mild infection
  • Hindi: प्रतिश्याय (pratiśyāy) — mild infection
  • Hungarian: nátha — mild infection
  • Indonesian: pilek — mild infection
  • Japanese: 風邪 (kaze) — mild infection
  • Japanese: 細菌性の風邪 (saikinsei no kaze) — mild infection
  • Khmer: គ្រុនផ្ដាសាយធម្មតា (krun pdaahsaay thoammea’daa) — mild infection
  • Korean: 감기 (gamgi) — mild infection
  • Malayalam: ജലദോഷം (jaladōṣaṁ) — mild infection
  • Marathi: सर्दी (sardī) — mild infection
  • Mongolian: хамрын ханиад (xamryn xaniad) — mild infection
  • Mongolian: ханиад (xaniad) — mild infection
  • Khiamniungan Naga: vēimū — mild infection
  • Nepali: रुगा (rugā) — mild infection
  • Polish: przeziębienie — mild infection
  • Portuguese: resfriado — mild infection
  • Portuguese: constipação — mild infection
  • Romanian: gripă — mild infection
  • Romanian: răceală — mild infection
  • Russian: просту́да (prostúda) — mild infection
  • Russian: на́сморк (násmork) — mild infection
  • Russian: ОРВИ (ORVI) — mild infection
  • Sanskrit: प्रतिश्याय (pratiśyāya) — mild infection
  • Spanish: resfriado común — mild infection
  • Spanish: resfrío — mild infection
  • Swahili: mafua ya kawaida — mild infection
  • Swedish: förkylning — mild infection
  • Tamil: சளி (caḷi) — mild infection
  • Thai: หวัด (wàt) — mild infection
  • Tibetan: ཆམས་པ (chams pa) — mild infection
  • Turkish: soğuk algınlığı — mild infection
  • Ottoman Turkish: طوماغی (tumağı) — mild infection
  • Ottoman Turkish: نزله (nezle) — mild infection
  • Ottoman Turkish: زكام (zükâm) — mild infection
  • Ottoman Turkish: صوغوق (soğuk) — mild infection
  • Ukrainian: засту́да (zastúda) — mild infection
  • Ukrainian: просту́да (prostúda) — mild infection
  • Ukrainian: не́жить (néžytʹ) — mild infection
  • Vietnamese: bệnh cảm lạnh — mild infection