Typhus \Ty"phus\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? smoke, cloud, stupor arising from fever; akin to ? to smoke, Skr. dh?pa smoke.]

(Med.) A contagious continued fever lasting from two to three weeks, attended with great prostration and cerebral disorder, and marked by a copious eruption of red spots upon the body. Also called jail fever, famine fever, putrid fever, spottled fever, etc. See Jail fever, under Jail.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)