measles: Meaning and Definition of

mea•sles

1. an acute infectious disease occurring mostly in children, characterized by catarrhal and febrile symptoms and an eruption of small red spots; rubeola.
2. any of certain other eruptive diseases. Cf.German measles.
2. a disease in swine and other animals caused by the larvae of certain tapeworms of the genus Taenia.
3. the larvae that cause measles in swine and other animals, and that upon maturation produce trichinosis in humans.