epidemic 英 [ˌepɪˈdemɪk] 美 [ˌepɪˈdemɪk]
pandemic 英 [pænˈdemɪk] 美 [pænˈdemɪk]
选词背景
If you recall the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s or are taking preparations against COVID-19 right now, then you’ve definitely heard the words epidemic and pandemic. With every biological outbreak, we encounter these words being used more and more frequently—and often, inaccurately.
无论是2003年的非典，还是此次抗击新冠疫情，我们常在英语新闻中听到或看到 “epidemic” 和 “pandemic” 这两个词。疫情期间，我们也频繁地使用这两个词，可是大多情况下我们却都在误用。
Why is it so easy for people to confuse these words? Well, both words contain –demic and are used for disease outbreaks, but they’re not exactly the same. These similarities lead many people to use the two words interchangeably or incorrectly altogether. The key difference, however, is about scale.
我们为什么容易混淆 “epidemic” 和 “pandemic” 呢？因为两个词的后缀都是-demic（人群），人们在日常日常生活中会交替使用两个词。区别是什么呢？答案是：范围
What is the difference between epidemic and pandemic?
基本释义
epidemic
英 [ˌepɪˈdemɪk] 美 [ˌepɪˈdemɪk]
affecting many persons at the same time, and spreading from person to person in a locality where the disease is not permanently prevalent; a large number of cases of a particular disease happening at the same time in a particular community 流行病
Epidemic is commonly used all on its own as a noun, meaning “a temporary prevalence of a disease.” Epidemic 通常用作名词，意为"暂时流行的疾病"。
例句：The city was able to stop the flu epidemic before it spread across the state.
pandemic
英 [pænˈdemɪk] 美 [pænˈdemɪk]
a disease prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the whole world；a disease that spreads over a whole country or the whole world （全国或全球性）流行病；大流行病
Pandemic is also used as a noun, meaning “a pandemic disease.” The WHO more specifically defines a pandemic as “a worldwide spread of a new disease.” On March 11, the WHO officially declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic due to the global spread and severity of the disease.
Pandemic 也用作名词，意思是“大流行病”。世卫组织将 “pandemic” 更具体地定义为“一种新疾病的全球传播”。2020年3月11日，因为COVID-19疫情在全球范围内蔓延，世卫组织正式宣布为全球大流行疾病。
While pandemic can be used for a disease that has spread across an entire country or other large landmass, the word is generally reserved for diseases that have spread across continents or the entire world.
pandemic通常只用于已经在各大洲或整个世界传播的疾病。
例句：After documenting cases in all continents except Antarctica, scientists declared the disease a pandemic.
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