antimalarial
|an-ti-ma-lar-i-al|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.ti.məˈlɛr.i.əl/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.ti.məˈlɪə.ri.əl/
against malaria
Etymology
'antimalarial' originates from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti', meaning 'against') combined with 'malarial' from 'malaria' (from Italian 'mala aria', meaning 'bad air').
'malaria' entered English via Medieval Latin 'mala aria' (literally 'bad air'), and the modern compound 'antimalarial' formed in English by combining 'anti-' + 'malarial' as medicines and measures against malaria were developed (mainly from the 19th to 20th centuries).
Initially, 'malaria' referred to the harmful 'bad air' thought to cause disease; over time it came to mean the specific mosquito-borne disease, and 'antimalarial' came to mean substances or measures aimed at preventing or treating that disease.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a medicine or substance used to prevent or treat malaria (an antimalarial drug).
Quinine was one of the first antimalarials used to treat the disease.
Synonyms
Adjective 1
effective against or used to prevent or treat malaria.
The clinic distributed antimalarial bed nets to people living in high-risk areas.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/03 08:44