miasma

«miasma» in Mova's school dictionary: A cloud of bad-smelling, unhealthy air, such as the smell… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a miasma, miasmas)

meaning for a pupil

1) A cloud of bad-smelling, unhealthy air, such as the smell from rotting things or a swamp. tree →

2) (figurative) A heavy, unpleasant feeling that hangs over a place: «a miasma of gloom». tree →

3) (history of science) The old wrong idea that diseases like cholera were caused by «bad air» (miasma), before germs were discovered. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history and science lessons, «miasma theory» was believed until the 1800s; John Snow's work on cholera in London in 1854 and later germ theory (Pasteur, Koch) showed diseases are spread by germs, not smells. In stories, a miasma hangs over swamps, dungeons or sad places. Phrases: «a miasma of smoke», «miasma theory».

examples

• A miasma rose from the rotting swamp. tree →
• People once blamed cholera on miasma, or bad air. tree →
• John Snow showed that dirty water, not miasma, spread cholera. tree →
• A miasma of cigarette smoke filled the old pub. tree →
• A miasma of sadness hung over the empty house. tree →
• Miasma theory was replaced by germ theory. tree →
• The dragon's cave was full of a foul miasma. tree →
• Florence Nightingale also believed in miasma, but her cleaning still saved lives. tree →

note

Countable: one miasma, two miasmas. Pronounced «mee-AZ-ma» or «my-AZ-ma». Myth trap: bad smells do not cause diseases themselves; germs do (though rotting things can contain germs). Not a maths word.

In the corpora

• Before germ theory, many people believed illness came from bad air, called miasma.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «miasma» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.