infect
English
Etymology
From Middle French infect, from Latin infectus, perfect passive participle of inficiō (“dye, taint”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɪnˈfɛkt/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛkt
Verb
infect (third-person singular simple present infects, present participle infecting, simple past and past participle infected)
- (transitive) To bring (the body or part of it) into contact with a substance that causes illness (a pathogen), so that the pathogen begins to act on the body; (of a pathogen) to come into contact with (a body or body part) and begin to act on it.
- Not everyone will be infected when an epidemic strikes.
- 2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193:
- Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola.
- (transitive) To contaminate (an object or substance) with a pathogen.
- (transitive) To make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion, or to communicate a feeling to others, or a feeling communicating itself to others.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, page 164:
- Guido, by way of diverting the embarrassment which seemed to infect them all, began to unfasten the packet of letters.
- Her passion for dancing has infected me.
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Synonyms
- (to contaminate): leper (rare)
Antonyms
- disinfect
Derived terms
- infection
- infectible
- infectome
Related terms
- infectious
Translations
to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
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to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
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Adjective
infect (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Infected.
- c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iii], line 187:
- And in the imitation of these twain, / Who, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns / With an imperial voice, many are infect.
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Anagrams
- netfic
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin infectus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛ̃.fɛkt/
Audio (file)
Adjective
infect (feminine infecte, masculine plural infects, feminine plural infectes)
- vile, loathsome
- revolting, disgusting
Synonyms
- répugnant, dégueulasse, immonde
Descendants
- → Romanian: infect
Further reading
- “infect”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Romanian
Etymology
From French infect, from Latin infectus.
Adjective
infect m or n (feminine singular infectă, masculine plural infecți, feminine and neuter plural infecte)
- revolting, disgusting (about smells)
- vile, loathsome (about humans)
Declension
Declension of infect
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative | indefinite | infect | infectă | infecți | infecte | ||
definite | infectul | infecta | infecții | infectele | |||
genitive/ dative | indefinite | infect | infecte | infecți | infecte | ||
definite | infectului | infectei | infecților | infectelor |