What does epidemiologist mean?
Word: Epidemiologist
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Epidemiologist means a scientist who studies how diseases spread through groups of people and how the spread can be controlled.
How do you spell epidemiologist?
Syllables: ep - i - de - mi - ol - o - gist
Tricky part: The stress falls on ol, ep-i-de-mi-OL-o-gist, so the vowels before it are said quickly and are easy to get wrong.
Watch out for: epidemiolagist, epidimiologist, epidemiologest
Memory tip: The job ending is ologist, as in biologist and zoologist: the ending for a person who studies a subject.
Epidemiologist in a sentence
Example 1: During the dengue season, epidemiologists track where new cases are reported each week.
Example 2: The epidemiologist explained why washing hands slows the spread of germs.
Example 3: My aunt works as an epidemiologist and studies how flu travels from city to city.
Fun Fact
In 1854 a London doctor named John Snow marked cholera cases on a street map and found that most were clustered around one water pump on Broad Street. He is often called a founder of modern epidemiology.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
ep_dem_ologist
a) i, e
b) e, e
c) i, i
d) e, i
Show answer
c) i, i. Epi- comes first, then demi- before ologist, so both gaps take i.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) physicion
b) dermatoligist
c) epidemiologist
d) cardiolagist
Show answer
c) epidemiologist. Dermatologist and cardiologist both need ologist, and physician ends in ian.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
dimeoisepigolt
a) immunologist
b) epidemiologist
c) entomologist
d) endocrinologist
Show answer
b) epidemiologist. Spot ologist at the end of the answer; immunologist needs a u and two m's, while endocrinologist and entomologist need an n, c, r or extra t that is not here.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
epiddemiologist
a) m
b) e
c) d
d) p
Show answer
c) d. The d is said once and written once.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which topic belongs to an epidemiologist's work?
a) how measles spreads in a town
b) the speed of light
c) how bridges are built
d) the bones of dinosaurs
Show answer
a) how measles spreads in a town
2. Which person would work most closely with an epidemiologist?
a) a cricket umpire
b) a bridge engineer
c) a fashion designer
d) a public health doctor
Show answer
d) a public health doctor
