Pandemic probably tops the long list of new words added to our vocabulary in 2020, but before it earned that notoriety, covid-19 was classified as an epidemic in Wuhan, China. It was only in March 2020 that WHO upgraded it to a pandemic -- far deadlier and more widespread than an epidemic. What's in a name, you ask? Merriam Webster defines an epidemic as a disease affecting a large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time; a pandemic is an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people, according to the WHO. Not surprisingly, both words are derived from ancient Greek. Pandemic comes from the Greek word pandemos , based on pan meaning "all" + demos meaning "people" or "population"; pandemic therefore affects nearly all of the people. In contrast, epi means "upon," so epidemic is something visited upon the people.
Blog on the History of Medicine and Medical Science from the Ancient Times to Modern