miasma

miasma

English

WOTD – 31 January 2007

Etymology

First attested in 1665. From Ancient Greek μίασμα (míasma, “stain; pollution”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /miˈæzmə/, /maɪˈæzmə/
• (US) enPR: mī-ăz'mə, mē- ăz'mə, IPA^(key): /maɪˈæzmə/, /miˈæzmə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æzmə
• Homophone: my asthma

Noun

miasma (plural miasmas or miasmata)

1. A noxious atmosphere or emanation once thought to originate from swamps and waste, and to cause disease.
   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, OCLC 688657546, page 276:

     There was an earthy smell, as of some dry miasma, which came through the fouler air.

2. (figurative) A noxious atmosphere or influence, an ominous environment.
   • 2020 September 15, Geoffrey Morrison, “aptX: Everything you need to know about the wireless Bluetooth enhancement”, in CNET‎:

     It was into this lossy compression miasma that aptX was born.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:miasma.

Related terms

• miasmatic

Translations

noxious atmosphere or influence

Bulgarian: миазма f (miazma) Catalan: miasma m Chinese: Mandarin: 瘴氣 (zh) (zhàngqì) Czech: tíživá atmosféra Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: miasma (nl) n, miasme (nl) n, verpeste atmosfeer Estonian: please add this translation if you can Finnish: myrkkyhöyry French: miasme (fr) m Galician: miasma m German: Miasma (de) n Greek: μίασμα (el) n (míasma) Italian: miasma (it) m Japanese: 瘴気 (しょうき, shōki), 毒素 (ja) (dokuso) Khmer: ជាបរិយាកាសដែលធ្វើឲ្យខូច (pa’re’yaakaah dael tvəə aoy kʰooc) Korean: 장기(瘴氣) (ko) (janggi), 장독(瘴毒) (jangdok) Occitan: please add this translation if you can Polish: miazmat (pl) m Portuguese: miasma (pt) m Romanian: miasmă (ro) f Russian: миа́зм (ru) m (miázm), миа́зма (ru) f (miázma) Slovak: please add this translation if you can Spanish: miasma (es) Turkish: miyasma (tr) Vietnamese: chướng khí

noxious emanation that originates from swamps and causes disease

Bulgarian: изпарение (bg) n (izparenie) Czech: těžké/jedovaté výpary m pl Dutch: miasma (nl) n, miasme (nl) n, moerasdamp m French: miasme (fr) Italian: miasma (it) m Polish: wyziew (pl) m Portuguese: miasma (pt) m Spanish: miasma (es) Turkish: miyasma (tr)

Further reading

• miasma theory on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• miasma (Greek mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Masami, imaams

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Dutch

Etymology

First attested in 1778. Borrowed from New Latin miasma, from Ancient Greek μίασμα (míasma, “stain, pollution”).[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmiˈɑs.maː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mi‧as‧ma
• Rhymes: -ɑsmaː

Noun

miasma n (plural miasmata or miasma's, diminutive miasmaatje n)

1. miasma (noxious atmosphere or influence)
2. (medicine, historical) miasma (emanation from rotting organic matter causing diseases)

Derived terms

• miasmatisch

References

1. van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “miasma”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

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Italian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μίασμα (míasma, “stain, pollution”).

Noun

miasma m (plural miasmi)

1. miasma

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin miasma, from Ancient Greek μίασμα (míasma, “pollution”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /miˈaz.mɐ/ [mɪˈaz.mɐ], (faster pronunciation) /ˈmjaz.mɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /miˈaz.mɐ/ [mɪˈaz.mɐ], (faster pronunciation) /ˈmjaz.mɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /miˈaʒ.mɐ/ [mɪˈaʒ.mɐ], (faster pronunciation) /ˈmjaʒ.mɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /miˈaz.ma/ [mɪˈaz.ma], (faster pronunciation) /ˈmjaz.ma/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmjaʒ.mɐ/

Noun

miasma m (plural miasmas)

1. miasma (noxious atmosphere or influence)
2. (medicine, historical) miasma (noxious emanation from swamps that was thought to cause diseases)

Related terms

• miasmático

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmjasma/ [ˈmjaz.ma]
• Rhymes: -asma
• Syllabification: mias‧ma

Noun

miasma m (plural miasmas)

1. miasma

Further reading

• “miasma”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014