kuru

K5U1R1U1
Australia/ˈkʉː.ɹʉː/UK/ˈkʊ.ɹuː/

noun

A chronic, progressive, fatal central nervous system disease found mainly among the Fore and neighboring peoples of New Guinea, caused by a prion that probably resembles the scrapie agent of sheep, transmissible to nonhuman primates, and believed to be transmitted by ritual cannibalism.

Similar
laughing deathlaughing sicknessKuru disease
Originfor kúru →
UncommonScrabble 8
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Meanings

kuru1

nounkuru (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA chronic, progressive, fatal central nervous system disease found mainly among the Fore and neighboring peoples of New Guinea, caused by a prion that probably resembles the scrapie agent of sheep, transmissible to nonhuman primates, and believed to be transmitted by ritual cannibalism.

    By the late 1950s, kuru was the leading cause of death among Fore women, and it had killed so many that men outnumbered women by three to one.

    1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 273

    Synonyms: laughing death, laughing sickness, Kuru disease

Kuru2

proper noun
  1. Hinduismhistoricalan ancient kingdom, mentioned in the Mahabharata.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA chronic, progressive, fatal central nervous system disease found mainly among the Fore and neighboring peoples of New Guinea, caused by a prion that probably resembles the scrapie agent of sheep, transmissible to nonhuman primates, and believed to be transmitted by ritual cannibalism.

Similar
laughing deathlaughing sicknessKuru disease

Origin

kuru · noun

  1. forkúru
  2. Englishkuru

From Fore kúru (literally “trembling, shivering”). Perhaps eventually from Proto-Gorokan *kút(V) (“dangling, shaking”) if cognate with the reduplicated element of Yagaria gúli gúli hu- (“be loose, rattle”).

More words from for

Full word history & related roots →

Kuru · proper noun

  1. Sanskritकुरु
  2. EnglishKuru

Borrowed from Sanskrit कुरु (kuru).

More words from Sanskrit

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 庫魯病 /库鲁病
  • 庫魯病 /库鲁病 (kùlǔbìng)central nervous system disease
Esperanto kuruo
  • kuruocentral nervous system disease
Finnish kuru
  • kurucentral nervous system disease
French kuru
  • kurucentral nervous system disease
German Kuru
  • Kurucentral nervous system disease
Irish kuru
  • kurucentral nervous system disease
Portuguese kuru
  • kurucentral nervous system disease
Russian ку́ру
  • ку́ру (kúru)central nervous system disease

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Uruk
Cite this entry
APA

kuru. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kuru

MLA

“kuru.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kuru. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kuru,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kuru.

Source: kuru on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.