Antimalaria

/ænˌtɪməˈlɑriə/ adjective

Definition

Describing treatments, drugs, or measures designed to prevent or treat malaria infection.

Etymology

From 'anti-' + 'malaria' (from Italian 'mal aria', bad air, the medieval misunderstanding of malaria's cause). The modern prefix reflects accurate understanding despite the outdated etymology in the disease name.

Kelly Says

It's linguistically delicious that we still use 'malaria' (bad air) when we now know it's actually mosquito-borne parasites—but 'antimalaria' compounds don't say 'bad air treatment,' they simply mean 'malaria treatment,' showing how words evolve past their origins.

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