adj · noun · 7 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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/ɛpɪ.zəˈwɒtɪk/
/ɛpɪ.zoʊˈɒtɪk/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
dialectal, especially:/ɛpɪˈzuːdɪk/in the sense ‘an ailment’
1
adj
Meaning 1
Like or having to do with an epizootic: a widespread outbreak of disease among nonhuman animals.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: epidemiology, medicine, sciences
Examples
Epizootic plague occurred in the mice following introduction of rats from Europe.
1919 March 19, author not named, The Mud Larks, in Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, 2004 Gutenberg edition, I handed it back to him, explaining that he had come to the wrong shop--unless he were a horse, of course. If he were and could provide his own nosebag, head-stall and Army Form 1640, testifying that he was guiltless of mange, ophthalmia or epizootic lymphangitis, I would do what I could for him.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Containing fossils.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: rare
Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Relating to epizoa; epizoic.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
An occurrence of a disease or disorder in a population of non-human animals at a frequency higher than that expected in a given time period.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: epidemiology, medicine, sciences
Examples
At the same time as an epidemic of the flu broke out among the people, an epizootic of the swine flu broke out among their pigs.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A particular epizootic disease.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
A disease or ailment (of humans).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dialectal, humorous, in-plural, often
Examples
Johnny's not doing so well today, I think he caught the epizootic.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
adjective satellite
Meaning 7
(of animals) epidemic among animals of a single kind within a particular region
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
an epizootic disease
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From French épizootique, animal equivalent of epidemic, from épizootie, irregularly formed from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) + ζῷον (zōîon, “animal”). By surface analysis, epi- + zo- + -otic. Use of the word in the second sense, "an ailment", was likely originally a reference to a particular epizootic ailment. Both senses are attested since at least the 1800s, and the pronunciation with five syllables is explicitly attested since then as well. Dialectal pronunciation of the second sense with four syllables is attested since at least the 1910s in spellings like "epizudic" and is suggested by 1870s references to a shortened form of the word, "zooty".
