The word 'quarantine' comes from 'quaranta giorni'

Did you know a simple word helped save lives during plagues?

Imagine you're at a beach party, and suddenly you hear about a contagious disease spreading. People are getting sick, and there's a fear of catching it too.

Quarantine means keeping people away from each other to stop the disease from spreading. It's like putting everyone in a bubble to protect them.

Example

At the beach party, everyone stays in their own spot, not mingling with others, for 40 days.

Remember this

Quarantine is a protective bubble that stops diseases from spreading.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Related concepts

Norman Borlaug

Norman Borlaug's work saved over a billion people from starvation

Smallpox vaccine

Edward Jenner created the first vaccine in 1796

Discovery of penicillin

Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by accident in 1928

Glossary of physics

Ever wondered how scientists track the spread of diseases?

List of poisonous plants

Tomatoes were considered poisonous in Europe for 200 years — they're in the nightshade family

List of Latin legal terms

Ever wondered why 'interest' means 'to be between'?

Swipe through 100 ML concepts daily

Open Pocket Polymath