endemic
/ɛnˈdɛm.ɪk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.37 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Native to a particular area or culture; originating where it occurs.
adj
Prevalent in a particular area or region, persistent within a population.
noun
An individual or species that is endemic to a region.
noun
A disease affecting a number of people simultaneously, so as to show a distinct connection with certain localities.
Example Sentences
- "The endemic religion of Easter Island arrived with the Polynesian settlers."
- "Kangaroos are endemic to Australia."
- "[…] a continental northern Alaskan element, including a series of endemic species and disjuncts that have survived the Pleistocene glaciation in northern Alaska and thus represent relicts of the much warmer Tertiary […]"
- "Malaria is endemic to the tropics."
- "1998, Gillian Catriona Ramchand, Deconstructing the Lexicon, in Miriam Butt and Wilhelm Geuder, eds. “The Projection of Arguments” These problems are endemic to the theory of thematic roles as currently conceived, because the classification it implies simply does not correspond to legitimate linguistic semantic definitions."
- "In a country where corruption is endemic, no evidence has been presented that Ms Yingluck took any money from the rice scheme, which in 2012 and 2013 cost Thailand billions of dollars. But a state-appointed committee last year ordered her to pay the fine, finding she was to blame, even though it was government policy."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Ancient Greek ἐν (en) Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *déh₂mos Proto-Hellenic *dā́mos Ancient Greek δῆμος (dêmos) Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English endemic From Ancient Greek ἐν (en, “in”) + δῆμος (dêmos, “people”) + -ic. Possibly via Ancient Greek ἔνδημος (éndēmos, “among one's people, at home, native”) and/or French endémique. By surface analysis, en- + demic.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɛnˈdɛm.ɪk/
- British English: /ɛnˈdɛm.ɪk/
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Biology.