endemic

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ɛˈndɛmɪk/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Native to, restricted to, or characteristic of a particular region, area, or environment.; Regularly found among particular people or in a certain area; prevalent or widespread in a specific context.
  2. noun
    An endemic disease; a disease that is constantly present in a particular region or population.; A species that is native and restricted to a particular geographic area.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: endemics

Collocations

endemic toendemic diseaseendemic speciesendemic corruptionendemic povertyendemic problem

Derivatives

endemicallyendemismendemicityendemicism

Synonyms

indigenousnativelocalregionalprevalentrife

Antonyms

cosmopolitanforeignexotic

Commonly confused

epidemic
EN: 'Endemic' means native to or constantly present in a specific area; 'epidemic' means a sudden widespread outbreak of disease.
pandemic
EN: 'Endemic' is restricted to a particular region; 'pandemic' refers to a disease spread across an entire country or the world.

Spelling tips

EN: Don't confuse 'endemic' (en- = within) with 'epidemic' (epi- = upon/among). The prefix determines the meaning: endemic is localized, epidemic is widespread.

💬 Examples

  1. The Galápagos Islands are home to many species endemic to the archipelago.

  2. Corruption is endemic in some governments, making reform extremely difficult.

  3. Malaria remains an endemic in many tropical regions of the world.

  4. The island has over fifty endemics that are found nowhere else on Earth.