etiology
etiology — noun
1. the particular reason or set of factors that makes an illness or health problem
the particular reason or set of factors that makes an illness or health problem start to affect a person's body
Luca asked the doctor whether stress could be the etiology of his frequent headaches.
collocation: the etiology of [condition]
The medical team could not find the etiology of Renata's sudden fever.
A viral etiology for the new lung disease was proposed by researchers in Kenya.
Knowing the etiology of a disease helps hospitals plan better ways to prevent it.
Tanvi's blood test gave the doctors the first clue to the etiology of her condition.
- cause
everyday word; less technical than 'etiology'
- origin
focuses on where the disease started; 'etiology' includes both origin and underlying mechanism
- root cause
more informal; emphasises the main underlying factor among several
文法句型
the etiology of + [disease or medical condition]
用法筆記
Frequently used with 'of' to specify which disease is being discussed. This sense is countable — you can refer to 'an etiology' (a specific cause) or 'the etiology of a particular illness.'
常見錯誤
2. the scientific field that investigates why and how diseases start, looking at th
the scientific field that investigates why and how diseases start, looking at their causes and origins
Dr. Mira teaches etiology to first-year medical students at a college in Taipei.
teach + etiology (academic context)
Karim chose to study etiology after his uncle died of a rare nerve disease.
study + etiology
A course in medical etiology explains how infections begin and spread inside the body.
New tools in gene research have pushed the field of cancer etiology forward.
Wei's study examined how the field of cancer etiology has changed over twenty years.
- aetiology
British spelling of the same word; meaning and usage are identical
文法句型
(field / study / branch) of etiology
用法筆記
Uncountable in this sense — do not say 'an etiology' when you mean the field of study. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 picks out a single cause; sense 2 names the whole scientific discipline.