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)

1. (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.

2. (transitive) To contaminate (an object or substance) with a pathogen.
3. (transitive) To make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion.

   Her passion for dancing has infected me.

Antonyms

• disinfect

Derived terms

• infection
• infectible

Related terms

• infectious

Translations

to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness

• Arabic: عَادَىٰ‎ (ʿādā)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: заразявам (bg) (zarazjavam)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: infectar (ca), contagiar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 傳染 (zh), 传染 (zh) (chuánrǎn), 感染 (zh) (gǎnrǎn)

• Czech: nakazit (cs), infikovat
• Danish: smitte (da)
• Dutch: infecteren (nl), besmetten (nl)
• Esperanto: infekti
• Finnish: tartuttaa (fi)
• French: infecter (fr)
• Galician: infectar
• Georgian: ინფიცირება (inpicireba), გადადება (gadadeba), დასნებოვნება (dasnebovneba), დასენიანება (dasenianeba)
• German: anstecken (de), infizieren (de)
• Hungarian: fertőz (hu), megfertőz (hu)
• Ido: infektar (io)
• Irish: galraigh, ionfhabhtaigh

• Italian: contagiare (it), infettare (it)
• Japanese: 感染させる (ja) (かんせんさせる, kansen saseru)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Malay: jangkit (ms)
• Norman: înfecter (Jersey)
• Occitan: infectar (oc)
• Polish: zakażać (pl) impf, zakazić (pl) pf, zarażać (pl) impf, zarazić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: infectar (pt), contagiar (pt)
• Quechua: qatiy (qu)
• Romanian: infecta (ro), contamina (ro)
• Russian: заража́ть (ru) impf (zaražátʹ), зарази́ть (ru) pf (zarazítʹ), инфици́ровать (ru) impf or pf (inficírovatʹ)
• Slovene: okužiti
• Spanish: infectar (es), contagiar (es)
• Swedish: smitta (sv), infektera (sv)
• Thai: ติดเชื้อ (th) (dtìt-chʉ́ʉa)
• Tibetan: རྣག་བསགས (rnag bsags)
• Vietnamese: nhiễm (vi), lây (vi)
• Volapük: näfätön (vo)

to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion

• Bulgarian: заразявам (bg) (zarazjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 感染 (zh) (gǎnrǎn)

• Dutch: infecteren (nl)
• Finnish: tartuttaa (fi)
• French: infecter (fr)
• Georgian: გადადება (gadadeba), გადაცემა (gadacema), გადასდებს (gadasdebs), გადასცემს (gadascems)
• German: anstecken (de), infizieren (de)

• Hungarian: megfertőz (hu)
• Portuguese: contagiar (pt)
• Romanian: contagia (ro)
• Russian: заража́ть (ru) impf (zaražátʹ), зарази́ть (ru) pf (zarazítʹ)
• Slovene: okužiti
• Spanish: contagiar (es), alborotar (es)
• Swedish: smitta (sv)
• Vietnamese: lan truyền

Adjective

infect (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Infected.
   • 1602, William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, I. iii. 187:

     And in the imitation of these twain, / Who, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns / With an imperial voice, many are infect.

Anagrams

• netfic

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin infectus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.fɛkt/

Adjective

infect (feminine singular infecte, masculine plural infects, feminine plural infectes)

1. vile, loathsome
2. revolting, disgusting

Synonyms

• répugnant, dégueulasse, immonde

Further reading

• “infect” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).