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A serious infectious disease of the throat and nearby passages. It is not an ordinary sore throat: a thick, tough film grows there — almost like a scrap of leather — and that film can block the airway, so breathing becomes hard and dangerous.
A serious infectious disease一種嚴重的傳染病 of the throat and nearby passages長在喉嚨和附近的通道 It is not an ordinary sore throat它不是普通的喉嚨痛 a thick, tough film grows there那裡會長出一層又厚又韌的膜 almost like a scrap of leather幾乎像一片皮革 and that film can block the airway而且這層膜會擋住呼吸道 so breathing becomes hard and dangerous讓呼吸變得困難又危險
It spreads from person to person. Before vaccines, it killed many children; you will meet the word now in health class, in history, and in news stories when people worry that an old disease might return.
It spreads from person to person它會人傳人 Before vaccines在有疫苗之前 it killed many children它奪走了很多孩子的性命 you will meet the word now in health class, in history, and in news stories現在你會在健康課、歷史課，還有新聞報導裡看到這個字 when people worry that an old disease might return當大家擔心這種舊疾病可能捲土重來的時候
Doctors still treat it as an emergency, not as a heavy cold. The name is medical and formal; ordinary conversation just says the person is very ill with diphtheria.
Doctors still treat it as an emergency醫生現在仍然把它當急症處理 not as a heavy cold而不是當成很嚴重的感冒 The name is medical and formal這個字很醫學、很正式 ordinary conversation just says the person is very ill with diphtheria平常說話只會說這個人得了白喉，病得很重
組成Does not split in English in a way that helps. Borrowed in the 1850s from French diphtérie (coined 1855 with -ie to replace an older diphtérite, because the illness hits more than one part of the body). The French word was built on Ancient Greek διφθέρα (diphthéra), “prepared hide, leather,” for that tough membrane in the throat.
原始詞典資料1 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
diphtherianoun/dɪfˈθɪə.ɹi.ə/
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medicinepathologysciencesA serious infectious disease leading to inflammation of mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract, caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae.
- Today diphtheria has become so rare — just five cases in the United States in the most recent decade measured — that many doctors would struggle to recognize it.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。