Phrase guide

Spanish influenza

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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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A form of influenza that spread to nearly every part of the world in a pandemic between 1918 and 1920, killing from 20 to 100 million people.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: purulent bronchitis

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alternative letter-case form of Spanish influenza.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Named after Spain, which reported on the spread of disease as a neutral state while most other countries fighting World War I impose censorship, leading to a mistaken impression that it was concentrated in Spain.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 西班牙流感 (Xībānyá liúgǎn) — influenza pandemic
  • Czech: španělská chřipka — influenza pandemic
  • Danish: spanske syge — influenza pandemic
  • Dutch: Spaanse griep — influenza pandemic
  • Esperanto: hispana gripo — influenza pandemic
  • Estonian: Hispaania gripp — influenza pandemic
  • Finnish: espanjantauti — influenza pandemic
  • Galician: gripe española — influenza pandemic
  • Galician: gripo — influenza pandemic
  • German: Spanische Grippe — influenza pandemic
  • Hungarian: spanyolnátha — influenza pandemic
  • Icelandic: spænska veikin — influenza pandemic
  • Japanese: スペイン風邪 (Supein kaze) — influenza pandemic
  • Japanese: スペインかぜ — influenza pandemic
  • Macedonian: шпански грип (španski grip) — influenza pandemic
  • Polish: hiszpanka — influenza pandemic
  • Portuguese: gripe espanhola — influenza pandemic
  • Russian: испа́нка (ispánka) — influenza pandemic
  • Spanish: gripe española — influenza pandemic
  • Spanish: gripe de 1918 — influenza pandemic
  • Spanish: gripe de 18 — influenza pandemic
  • Swedish: spanska sjukan — influenza pandemic