# Spanish influenza

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A form of influenza that spread to nearly every part of the world in a pandemic between 1918 and 1920, killing from 20 to 100 million people.

## Etymology
Named after Spain, which reported on the spread of disease as a neutral state while most other countries fighting World War I impose censorship, leading to a mistaken impression that it was concentrated in Spain.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spanish-influenza