disease

1. (medicine) An abnormal condition of a human, animal or plant that causes discomfort or dysfunction; distinct from injury insofar as the latter is usually instantaneously acquired.Examples: "The tomato plants had some kind of disease that left their leaves splotchy and fruit withered."; "[…] diſeaſes deſperate growne, By deſperate appliance are releeued, Or not at all."; "The instability, injustice, and confusion, introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have every where perished; […]"countableuncountable

2. (figuratively) Any abnormal or harmful condition, as of society, people's attitudes, way of living etc.Examples: "War is not man's great and terrible disease; war is a symptom, a result. The real disease is the virus of national sovereignty."countablefigurativelyuncountable