disease-free
|dis-ease-free|
/dɪˈziːzˌfriː/
without illness
Etymology
'disease-free' originates from a modern English compound of 'disease' + 'free'. 'Disease' comes from Old French 'desaise' (from des- 'lack of' + aise 'ease'), and 'free' comes from Old English 'frēo' meaning 'not enslaved; exempt'.
'disease' changed from Old French 'desaise' to Middle English 'diseas'/'disease' and eventually the modern English 'disease'. 'Free' developed from Old English 'frēo' through Middle English 'fre' to modern 'free'. The compound 'disease-free' formed in modern English by joining these two words.
Initially, 'disease' literally meant 'lack of ease' and later narrowed to mean 'illness' or 'sickness'; 'free' meant 'not under control' or 'exempt' and extended to mean 'without'. Thus 'disease-free' came to mean 'without illness'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
free from disease; not suffering from any illness.
After the vaccination campaign, the community was declared disease-free.
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Adjective 2
(Of a population or area) cleared of a particular disease or no longer affected by it (often used in public health/epidemiology).
After years of coordinated effort, the region became measles-disease-free.
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Last updated: 2025/12/15 08:03