This study proposes Natural Semantic Metalanguage semantic explications for the English words virus (in two senses), bacteria, germs, and related sick, ill, disease. We concentrate on their nave or folk meanings (Apresjan 1992) in everyday English, as opposed to scientific semi-scientific meanings. In this way, paper makes a start uncovering epidemiology embedded lexicon. The semantics of like ...

The paper discusses the main issues of terminological semantics from a general lexicological point of view. It will be argued that words are not fuzzy, as generally assumed, but clearcut – in the sense that there must be cognitive effort to perceive word meanings and the objects referred to as clearly different from other words and objects. We assume that the basic principles of this idealistic...