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Meaning of Malaria
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April 13th, 2009 at 2:02 am
mala aria = bad air?
Geri
April 13th, 2009 at 5:24 am
This word means “bad air”. It was once thought that bad air caused this illness.
April 13th, 2009 at 5:51 am
Makes sense to me, Geri. If Malodorous means bad smell, “mal” definitely means “bad”, and “aria” is probably not talking about the musical piece in an opera.
I must concur. Malaria comes from the roots that can be translated as “bad air”.
April 13th, 2009 at 5:58 am
I agree–”bad air”.
April 13th, 2009 at 7:05 am
I agree with Geri…
mal*aria = bad air
April 13th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Yup–bad air.
April 13th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Being a musician, I would guess bad song…but that can’t be right so I’ll agree with everyone else and say bad air.
April 13th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
@Jill Foley – Jill, that’s cute! Thanks for the chuckle; I needed that!
April 13th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Well, this isn’t actually the meaning of the words… but it has a VERY bad meaning for me. One of my sponsored children in Uganda actually died of malaria when I was sponsoring her several years ago. It was very sad and heartbreaking. She was a very exuberant child. Her letters were always fun to read and I loved the drawings she would send. It was a very sad day when malaria took her life.
April 13th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
So sorry to hear that, Patricia. I would feel just as heartbroken if that happened to one of my kids–and they aren’t even “mine” physically. But I still think of them as my own children.
April 13th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
@Patricia – Patricia, I am so sorry. Losing one of our sponsored children would break the heart of any of us on here, whether by death or the child’s leaving the program. May God bless you with other children who also need your love–and His!
April 13th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Patricia, I’m very sorry to hear about the loss of your child. It would have been a heartbreaking telephone call/letter to receive.
I too have lost one of my sponsored children but not because of maleria. She had a heart defect that went unnoticed.
Geri
Geri
April 14th, 2009 at 8:53 am
And the answer is …
Bad air.
The word malaria originates from the Italian language and translates literally as “mala aria” or “bad air.” This came from the early belief that the disease was caused by breathing the stale, warm, humid air found around swamps.
(Source: nothingbutnets.net/malaria-kills/, November 2008)
April 14th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Oh Patricia and Geri…my heart goes out to you both. I was heartbroken when my first sponsored child graduated from Compassion’s program and that’s supposed to be a happy thing!
April 14th, 2009 at 9:33 am
I was really surprised by her death. It was such a shock. I didn’t really think of malaria as being deadly. Never really thought about it before she died of it. I know that where I live, we tend to get a lot of mosquitoes and they can carry a ton of diseases. And every year we hear about people in Houston contracting some of these diseases. Usually they do not die of them, but sometimes they do. Of course, malaria is not here as far as I’ve ever heard, but lots of other diseases are. West Nile virus is one of the worst that we get here. (And of course, our dogs get parasitic heartworms if they are not on year-round prevention.) I’m glad organizations are working to help people who live in areas where malaria is common. Education and medical care are so critical.
April 15th, 2009 at 7:18 am
@Jill Foley – Jill…that actually came to my mind too…I had just finished listening to Yanni…lol.