ˌe-pə-ˌdē-mē-ˈä-lə-jē, -ˌde-mē-
Noun, pl. epidemiologies
1. Science that deals with the major component of public health research, studying factors affecting the health of populations (dictionary.com)
2. The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states and events in populations and the control of health problems, the study of epidemic disease. (biology-online.org)
3. the study (or the science of the study) of the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in defined populations. It is the cornerstone of public health, and informs policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive medicine. (wikipedia.com)
4. a branch of medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population (merriam-webster.com)
5. the sum of the factors controlling the presence or absence of a disease or pathogen (merriam-webster.com)
Word Origin: From late Latin epidemia + International Scientific Vocabulary -logy