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
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:pŏ'lĭōmīəlīʹtĭs
Received-Pronunciation:pō'lĭōmīəlīʹtĭs
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌpɒlɪəʊmaɪəˈlaɪtɪs/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈpəʊlɪəʊmaɪəˈlaɪtɪs/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Acute infection by the poliovirus, especially of the motor neurons in the spinal cord and brainstem, leading to muscle weakness, paralysis and sometimes deformity.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: infantile paralysis, polio
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
an acute viral disease marked by inflammation of nerve cells of the brain stem and spinal cord
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Borrowed from German Poliomyelitis, from the Ancient Greek πολιός (poliós, “grey”) + μυελός (muelós, “marrow”) + -ῖτις (-îtis, “-itis”). Compare French poliomyélite.
Across languages
Translations
63 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
شَلَل الْأَطْفَال
(šalal al-ʔaṭfāl)
— infection by the poliovirus
Armenian:
պոլիոմիելիտ
(poliomielit)
— infection by the poliovirus
Bulgarian:
детски паралич
(detski paralič)
— infection by the poliovirus
Catalan:
poliomielitis
— infection by the poliovirus
Chinese Mandarin:
小兒麻痺 /小儿麻痹
(xiǎo'ér mábì)
— infection by the poliovirus
Chinese Mandarin:
脊髓灰質炎 /脊髓灰质炎
(jǐsuǐ huīzhìyán)
— infection by the poliovirus
Czech:
dětská obrna
— infection by the poliovirus
Czech:
poliomyelitida
— infection by the poliovirus
Danish:
polio
— infection by the poliovirus
Danish:
børnelammelse
— infection by the poliovirus
Dutch:
polio
— infection by the poliovirus
Dutch:
kinderverlamming
— infection by the poliovirus
Dutch:
poliomyelitis
— infection by the poliovirus
Esperanto:
poliomjelito
— infection by the poliovirus
Faroese:
barnalamningur
— infection by the poliovirus
Finnish:
polio
— infection by the poliovirus
Finnish:
lapsihalvaus
— infection by the poliovirus
Finnish:
poliomyeliitti
— infection by the poliovirus
French:
poliomyélite
— infection by the poliovirus
French:
polio
— infection by the poliovirus
German:
Kinderlähmung
— infection by the poliovirus
German:
Poliomyelitis
— infection by the poliovirus
Hawaiian:
poliō
— infection by the poliovirus
Hindi:
पोलियो
(poliyo)
— infection by the poliovirus
Hungarian:
gyermekbénulás
— infection by the poliovirus
Icelandic:
mænusótt
— infection by the poliovirus
Irish:
polaimiailíteas
— infection by the poliovirus
Italian:
poliomielite
— infection by the poliovirus
Italian:
leucomielite
— infection by the poliovirus
Japanese:
急性灰白髄炎
(kyūsei kaihaku zuien)
— infection by the poliovirus
Japanese:
ポリオ
(porio)
— infection by the poliovirus
Kazakh:
полиомиелит
(poliomielit)
— infection by the poliovirus
Korean:
소아마비
(soamabi)
— infection by the poliovirus
Korean:
폴리오
(pollio)
— infection by the poliovirus
Manx:
anlheiltys lhiannooagh
— infection by the poliovirus
Manx:
neulheiltys lhiannooagh
— infection by the poliovirus
Manx:
neulheiltys oikanagh
— infection by the poliovirus
Māori:
mate whakarori tamariki
— infection by the poliovirus
Māori:
mate whakamemeke
— infection by the poliovirus
Norwegian Bokmål:
polio
— infection by the poliovirus
Norwegian Bokmål:
poliomyelitt
— infection by the poliovirus
Norwegian Bokmål:
barnelammelse
— infection by the poliovirus
Norwegian Nynorsk:
polio
— infection by the poliovirus
Norwegian Nynorsk:
poliomyelitt
— infection by the poliovirus
Norwegian Nynorsk:
barnelamming
— infection by the poliovirus
Persian:
فلج اطفال
(falaj-e atfâl)
— infection by the poliovirus
Persian:
پولیو
(polio)
— infection by the poliovirus
Polish:
choroba Heinego-Medina
— infection by the poliovirus
Polish:
heinemedina
— infection by the poliovirus
Polish:
polio
— infection by the poliovirus
Polish:
porażenie dziecięce
— infection by the poliovirus
Portuguese:
poliomielite
— infection by the poliovirus
Romanian:
poliomielită
— infection by the poliovirus
Russian:
полиомиели́т
(poliomijelít)
— infection by the poliovirus
Slovak:
detská obrna
— infection by the poliovirus
Spanish:
poliomielitis
— infection by the poliovirus
Swahili:
ugonjwa wa kupooza
— infection by the poliovirus
Swedish:
polio
— infection by the poliovirus
Swedish:
poliomyelit
— infection by the poliovirus
Swedish:
barnförlamning
— infection by the poliovirus
Tagalog:
polyo
— infection by the poliovirus
Turkish:
çocuk felci
— infection by the poliovirus
Turkish:
poliomyelit
— infection by the poliovirus