Meaning

noun an infectious disease of the tropics transmitted by mosquitoes and characterized by rash and aching head and joints

originFrom West Indian Spanish dengue in 1828, from the Kiswahili term dinga (in full kidingapopo or kidinga pepo, "a kind of sudden cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit", dinga itself meaning sudden cramp-like seizure). The borrowed term changed to dengue in Spanish due to this word existing in Spanish with the meaning "fastidiousness" and the folk etymology referring to the dislike of movement…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0