nounan infectious disease characterized by recurring attacks of chills and fever, caused by the bite of an anopheles mosquito infected with any of four protozoans of the genus Plasmodium (P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, or P. ovale)
Word origin
C18: from Italian
mala aria bad air, from the belief that the disease was caused by the unwholesome air in swampydistricts