Italian for 'influence' — medieval Italians blamed epidemics on 'influenza delle stelle' (influence of the stars).
A highly contagious viral infection of the respiratory passages causing fever, severe aching, and catarrh.
From Italian 'influenza,' meaning 'influence' (from Medieval Latin 'influentia,' from Latin 'influere,' to flow in). Italians in the 15th and 16th centuries attributed outbreaks of disease to the 'influenza delle stelle' -- the 'influence of the stars,' believing that epidemics were caused by unfavorable astrological alignments. The word was borrowed
When people say they have 'the flu,' they are literally claiming to be under the influence of the stars. The word 'influenza' and 'influence' are the same word -- medieval Italians believed epidemics flowed down from unfavorable celestial alignments, making every flu diagnosis a fossilized piece of Renaissance astrology.