Fever

Definition
noun, plural: fevers
(pathology) A febrile condition; an increase in body temperature that is higher than the normal, usually as caused by the body’s response to a pyrogen inducing upward displacement of the set point of the hypothalamic thermoregulatory center
(pathology) A disease accompanying a rise in body temperature above the normal
(marine biology) A group of stingrays
Supplement
Fever in medicine and pathology pertains to the rise in body temperature above the normal and results from the host’s natural response when infectious agents such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses invade the body tissues. Pyrogens released into the circulation act on the hypothalamic thermoregulatory center, increasing its set point. In humans, a body temperature that is greater than 37.5 or 38.3 °C (99.5 or 100.9 °F) is regarded as having a fever.
Word origin: Old English fēfor, from Latin febris (a fever), from ferveō (to be hot, burn, boil)
Synonym(s):

• pyrexia (pathology)
• febrile response (pathology)

Compare:

hyperthermia

See also:

• infection
• pathogen
• pyrogen

Related term(s):

Rice-field fever

Spirillum fever

Lassa fever

Lassa haemorrhagic fever

Colourado tick fever

South african tick-bite fever

Kenya fever

Duttons relapsing fever

Fort bragg fever

Ship fever

Rocky mountain spotted fever

Deer-fly fever

Canefield fever

Canicola fever

Tertian fever

Fever blister

Crimean fever

Ardent fever

Vivax fever

Malta fever

Desert fever

Sakushu fever

Induced fever

Remittent fever

Intermittent fever