/ ˌɪnfluˈenzə; NAmE / noun
[ U ] ( formal ) = flu
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 18th cent.: from Italian , literally influence , from medieval Latin influentia inflow, from Latin influere , from in- into + fluere to flow. The Italian word also has the sense an outbreak of an epidemic, hence epidemic. It was applied specifically to an influenza epidemic which began in Italy in 1743, later adopted in English as the name of the disease.