infect

English

Etymology

From Latin infectus, perfect passive participle of inficiō (“dye, taint”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛkt

Verb

infect (third-person singular simple present infects, present participle infecting, simple past and past participle infected)

1. (transitive) to bring into contact with a substance that can cause illness (a pathogen)
2. (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 can cause illness

• Chinese:

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

• Czech: nakazit (cs), infikovat (cs)
• Dutch: infecteren (nl)
• Esperanto: infekti (eo)
• Finnish: tartuttaa (fi)
• French: infecter (fr)
• German: anstecken (de), infizieren (de)

• Japanese: 感染させる (ja) (かんせんさせる, kansen saseru)
• Jèrriais: înfecter
• Romanian: infecta (ro), contamina (ro)
• Russian: заражать (ru) (zaražátʹ) impf., заразить (ru) (zarazítʹ) pf., инфицировать (ru) (inficírovatʹ) impf. / pf.
• Spanish: infectar (es), contagiar (es)
• Swedish: smitta (sv)
• Volapük: näfätön (vo)

to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 感染 (cmn) (gǎnrǎn)

• Dutch: infecteren (nl)
• Finnish: tartuttaa (fi)
• French: infecter (fr)

• German: anstecken (de), infizieren (de)
• Russian: заражать (ru) (zaražátʹ) impf., заразить (ru) (zarazítʹ) pf.
• Spanish: contagiar (es), alborotar (es)
• Swedish: smitta (sv)

---

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin infectus.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɛ̃fɛkt/

Adjective

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

1. vile, loathsome
2. revolting, disgusting