Meanings
plural zoonoses · alternative zoönosis
- biologyAn animal disease, such as rabies or anthrax, that can be transmitted to humans.
1 more example
In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study a variety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans.
2013 January 28, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 09 Feb 2017, page 64
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekνόσος“disease”
- Ancient Greekζῷον“animal”
- Englishzoonosis
From zoo- + (itself from Ancient Greek ζῷον (zōîon, “animal”)) + Ancient Greek νόσος (nósos, “disease”) (compare also nosology); the surface analysis is almost, although not quite, zoo- + -osis; compare also anthroponosis.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque zoonosi
- zoonosianimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Bulgarian зооноза
- зооноза (zoonoza)animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Catalan zoonosi
- zoonosianimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Chinese Mandarin 人畜共通病, 人畜共通傳染病 /人畜共通传染病
- 人畜共通病 (rénchù gòngtōngbìng)animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
- 人畜共通傳染病 /人畜共通传染病 (rénchù gòngtōng chuánrǎnbìng)animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Czech zoonóza
- zoonózaanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Danish zoonose
- zoonoseanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Dutch zoönose
- zoönoseanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Esperanto zoonozo
- zoonozoanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Finnish zoonoosi, eläinperäinen sairaus
- zoonoosianimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
- eläinperäinen sairausanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
French zoonose
- zoonoseanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
German Zoonose
- Zoonoseanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Greek ζωονόσος, ζωοανθρωπονόσος
- ζωονόσος (zoonósos)animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
- ζωοανθρωπονόσος (zooanthroponósos)animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Hindi ज़ूनोसिस
- ज़ूनोसिस (zūnosis)animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Hungarian zoonózis
- zoonózisanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Icelandic súna
- súnaanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Irish zónóis
- zónóisanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Italian zoonosi
- zoonosianimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Japanese ズーノーシス
- ズーノーシス (zūnōshisu)animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Korean 인수공통감염병
- 인수공통감염병 (insugongtonggamyeombyeong)animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Malay zoonosis
- zoonosisanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Norwegian Bokmål zoonose
- zoonoseanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Persian زئونوز
- زئونوزanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Polish zoonoza
- zoonozaanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Portuguese zoonose
- zoonoseanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Romanian zoonoză
- zoonozăanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Russian зооно́з
- зооно́з (zoonóz)animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Spanish zoonosis
- zoonosisanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Swedish zoonos
- zoonosanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Turkish zoonoz
- zoonozanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Ukrainian зооно́з
- зооно́з (zoonóz)animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Vietnamese động vật lây truyền bệnh
- động vật lây truyền bệnhanimal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Cite this entry
zoonosis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zoonosis
“zoonosis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zoonosis. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “zoonosis,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zoonosis.
Source: zoonosis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.