Dis*ease" (?), n. [OE. disese,
OF. desaise; des- (L. dis-) + aise ease.
See Ease.] 1. Lack of ease; uneasiness;
trouble; vexation; disquiet. [Obs.]
So all that night they passed in great
disease.
Spenser.
To shield thee from diseases of the
world.
Shak.
2. An alteration in the state of the body or
of some of its organs, interrupting or disturbing the performance of
the vital functions, and causing or threatening pain and weakness;
malady; affection; illness; sickness; disorder; -- applied
figuratively to the mind, to the moral character and habits, to
institutions, the state, etc.
Diseases desperate grown,
By desperate appliances are relieved.
Shak.
The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced
into the public counsels have, in truth, been the mortal
diseases under which popular governments have every where
perished.
Madison.
Disease germ. See under
Germ.
Syn. -- Distemper; ailing; ailment; malady; disorder;
sickness; illness; complaint; indisposition; affection. --
Disease, Disorder, Distemper, Malady,
Affection. Disease is the leading medical term.
Disorder mean&?; much the same, with perhaps some slight
reference to an irregularity of the system. Distemper
is now used by physicians only of the diseases of animals.
Malady is not a medical term, and is less used than formerly
in literature. Affection has special reference to the part,
organ, or function disturbed; as, his disease is an
affection of the lungs. A disease is usually deep-
seated and permanent, or at least prolonged; a disorder is
often slight, partial, and temporary; malady has less of a
technical sense than the other terms, and refers more especially to
the suffering endured. In a figurative sense we speak of a
disease mind, of disordered faculties, and of mental
maladies.
Dis*ease", v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Diseased (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Diseasing.] 1. To deprive of ease; to
disquiet; to trouble; to distress. [Obs.]
His double burden did him sore
disease.
Spenser.
2. To derange the vital functions of; to
afflict with disease or sickness; to disorder; -- used almost
exclusively in the participle diseased.
He was diseased in body and mind.
Macaulay.
