Spanish flu

American  

[span-ish floo] / ˈspæn ɪʃ ˈflu /

Also Spanish influenza

noun

Pathology.

1. the pandemic strain of type A influenza that spread throughout the world during 1918–20: it is also referred to as the 1918 flu pandemic or 1918 influenza pandemic .

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Etymology

Origin of Spanish flu

First recorded in 1918; so called because wartime censorship in the major belligerent powers, particularly the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, and France, minimized early reports of illness and mortality among themselves but freely reported the effects of the pandemic in neutral Spain, leaving the impression that Spain was very hard hit by this flu

Compare meaning

How does spanish-flu compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Spanish flu vs. Black Death
• Spanish flu vs. Black Plague

Example Sentences

Before that, the lowest growth rate was just under 0.5% in 1919 at the height of the Spanish flu.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 27, 2026

People didn’t talk about the Spanish flu, and now a century later, we are unprepared.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 27, 2023

When the Spanish flu pandemic arrived in 1918, officials expanded the approach, said E. Thomas Ewing, a historian at Virginia Tech.

From New York Times • Jun. 17, 2023

“It took decades…for the pandemic virus of 1918 to disappear,” he said, referring to the Spanish flu that is thought to have killed at least 40 million people.

From Washington Times • May 5, 2023

To illustrate this, Korn points to the Spanish flu pandemic.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot