psittacosis

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US/ˌsitəˈkoʊsɪs/US[ˌsiɾəˈkoʊsɪs]

noun

An infection by Chlamydia bacteria, caught from infected birds, and characterised by fever, pneumonia and headaches.

Similar
ornithosisparrot diseaseparrot fever
OriginLatin psittacus →
UncommonScrabble 15
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Meanings

nounpsittacosis (countable and uncountable, plural psittacoses)

plural psittacoses

  1. countableuncountablemedicineAn infection by Chlamydia bacteria, caught from infected birds, and characterised by fever, pneumonia and headaches.

    Synonyms: ornithosis, parrot disease, parrot fever

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn infection by Chlamydia bacteria, caught from infected birds, and characterised by fever, pneumonia and headaches.

Similar
ornithosisparrot diseaseparrot fever

More synonyms by meaning

nouninfectious disease of birds

Similar
parrot disease
Broader
animal disease

nounan atypical pneumonia caused by a rickettsia microorganism and transmitted to humans from infected birds

Similar
parrot feverornithosis
Broader
atypical pneumoniaprimary atypical pneumoniamycoplasmal pneumonia
Also see
ornithosisparrot diseaseparrot fever

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinpsittacus“parrot”
  2. Englishpsittacosis

From Latin psittacus (“parrot”) + -osis. By surface analysis, psittac- + -osis.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 鸚鵡熱 /鹦鹉热
  • 鸚鵡熱 /鹦鹉热 (yīngwǔrè)infection
Czech psitakóza, ornitóza
  • psitakózainfection
  • ornitózainfection
  • papouščí nemocinfection
Danish psittacosis, ornithosis
  • psittacosisinfection
  • ornithosisinfection
  • papegøjesygeinfection
Dutch psittacose
  • psittacoseinfection
German Psittakose, Papageienkrankheit
  • Psittakoseinfection
  • Papageienkrankheitinfection
Greek ψιττάκωση
  • ψιττάκωση (psittákosi)infection
Japanese オウム病
  • オウム病 (ōmubyō)infection
Romanian boala papagalilor
  • boala papagalilorinfection
Scottish Gaelic galar-pearraide
  • galar-pearraideinfection
Slovak papagájová choroba
  • papagájová chorobainfection
Spanish psitacosis
  • psitacosisinfection
Swedish papegojsjuka
  • papegojsjukainfection
Cite this entry
APA

psittacosis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/psittacosis

MLA

“psittacosis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/psittacosis. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “psittacosis,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/psittacosis.

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