Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by irishsultan 362 days ago
The word epidemic does not imply contagiousness, not in the medical context and therefore definitely not outside of it.
1 comments
kibwen 362 days ago
Yes, the definition of "epidemic" literally refers to something being widespread (etymology derived from "upon the people"). It's not wrong to refer to e.g. an obesity epidemic despite obesity not being contagious.
link