From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishinfluenzain‧flu‧en‧za /ˌɪnfluˈenzə/ noun [uncountable] medical MIan infectious disease that is like a very bad cold SYN flu
Examples from the Corpus
influenza• During this century, influenza pandemics occurred in 1918,1957,1968, and 1977.• This system provides direct community influenza morbidity data that are otherwise unavailable.• But when she was 6 her parents died in the post-WorldWar I influenza epidemic.• She had been married to Nahum Morey for two years when the staid Mrs Deacon died of influenza.• The first sign of illness is a malaise no worse than influenza.• The other large group of patients seen in an outpatient setting with headache and fever are those with a viral influenza syndrome.• Germaine fell ill with influenza and the sessions had to be interrupted.• The joy of the end to the war was marred, unfortunately, by a worldwide influenza epidemic.Origin influenza (1700-1800) Italian Medieval Latin influentia; → INFLUENCE1 