hydrophobia
pronunciation
How to pronounce hydrophobia in British English:
UK [ˌhaɪdrəˈfəʊbiə]
How to pronounce hydrophobia in American English:
US [ˌhaɪdrəˈfoʊbiə]
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- Noun:
- a symptom of rabies in humans consisting of an aversion to swallowing liquids
- a morbid fear of water
- an acute viral disease of the nervous system of warm-blooded animals (usually transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal); rabies is fatal if the virus reaches the brain
Word Origin
- hydrophobia (n.)
- late 14c., idroforbia, a symptom of rabies in man (sometimes used for the disease itself), from Late Latin hydrophobia (Celsius, 50 C.E.), from Greek hydrophobos "dreading water," from hydr-, stem of hydor "water" (see water (n.1)) + phobos "dread, fear" (see phobia). So called because human sufferers show aversion to water and have difficulty swallowing it. In Old English as wæterfyrhtness.
Synonym
Example
- 1. Classic hydrophobia when it develops is startling .
- 2. Now you are cured of your hydrophobia .
- 3. Rabies is often referred to as hydrophobia because victims fear swallowing .
- 4. Rabies is also known as hydrophobia ( fear of water ) .
- 5. This finding is so classically associated with rabies in animals as well as people that hydrophobia and rabies were once synonymous .