To lack ease
Plagues and people
Fear
The trend towards being indoors
Psychological dis-ease
The etymology of the word “disease” traces back to the Old French word “desaise,” which means “lack, want; discomfort, distress; trouble, misfortune; disease, sickness,” literally “lack of ease.” The term is composed of two parts: “des-” a prefix meaning “lack of” (from Latin “dis-” which has a negative or reversing force) and “aise” meaning “ease” (from the Latin “adjacens,” meaning “lying at, bordering on,” figurative “easy, comfortable, agreeable,” with a root sense of “to lie near,” from “jacēre” meaning “to lie, rest”).
The evolution of the term into “disease” in English reflects a broadening to refer to any condition that causes pain, dysfunction, distress, social problems, or death to the person afflicted, or similar problems for those in contact with the person. In this context, “disease” is used broadly to refer to any condition that impairs normal function, not limited to infectious diseases but encompassing a wide range of health conditions.