ague

n.

1. A febrile condition in which there are alternating periods of chills, fever, and sweating. Used chiefly in reference to the fevers associated with malaria.
2. A chill or fit of shivering.

[Middle English, from Old French (fievre) ague, sharp (fever), from Medieval Latin (febris) acūta, from Latin, feminine of acūtus. See acute.]

aguish a'gu·ish (ā'gyū-ĭsh) adj.
aguishly a'gu·ish·ly adv.
aguishness a'gu·ish·ness n.

Ague, a malarial disease transmitted by mosquitoes and characterized by intermittent fevers and chills, was a leading cause of chronic illness across America from the colonial period until 1900. While malaria is most often found in tropical and subtropical climates, American settlers were plagued by ague near wetlands, even in the temperate north. Because the disease originated in Europe and Africa, its effects on Native American populations were often devastating. By 1900, draining wetlands for agriculture and development led to a dramatic decline in malarial disease in all regions but the South; there, eradication required extensive public health campaigns during the first half of the twentieth century.

Bibliography

Cassedy, James H. Medicine in America: A Short History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991.

Leavitt, Judith Walzer and Ronald L. Numbers, eds. Sickness and Health in America: Readings in the History of Medicine and Public Health. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997.

—Loren Butler Feffer

IN BRIEF: A disease; fever, associated with malaria.

Christopher was suffering from ague.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - koldfeber, malaria

Nederlands (Dutch)
(koude) koorts

Français (French)
n. - (Méd) fièvre paludéenne

Deutsch (German)
n. - Schüttelfrost

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (παθολ.) θέρμη, (διαλείπων) πυρετός, ρίγος, κρυάδες

Italiano (Italian)
febbrone, febbre malarica

Português (Portuguese)
n. - malária (Med.), paludismo (m) (Med.)

Русский (Russian)
малярия

Español (Spanish)
n. - fiebre palúdica, escalofrío

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - malaria, rysningar

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
疟疾, 发冷, 寒颤

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 瘧疾, 發冷, 寒顫

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 학질, 오한

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - マラリア熱, 悪寒

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ملاريا, قشعريره‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮התקף קדחת (מיושן), צמרמורת‬

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