contagious

English

Etymology

From Old French contagieus, from Late Latin contagiosus, from contagio.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈteɪdʒəs/

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪdʒəs

Adjective

contagious (comparative more contagious, superlative most contagious)

1. (of a disease) Easily transmitted to others.

   Synonyms: catching, infectious

   The flu was so contagious that everybody in town got sick!

2. (figuratively) Easily passed on to others.

   Synonym: infectious

   Wearing jeans was a contagious fad at that time.

   • 2000, Damon Gough (lyrics and music), “Magic in the Air”, in The Hour of Bewilderbeast, performed by Badly Drawn Boy:

     Cause love is contagious, when it's alright / Love is contagious, when it's alright / Love is alright

3. (of a person) Having a disease that can be transmitted to another person.

   They were highly contagious, spreading bacteria to other people.

Antonyms

• non-contagious

Derived terms

• contagiousness
• contagion

Translations

of a disease, easily transmitted to others

• Arabic: مُعْدٍ‎ (muʿdin)
• Bashkir: йоғошло (yoğošlo)
• Bulgarian: заразен (bg) (zarazen)
• Catalan: contagiós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 传染性 (zh) (chuánrǎnxìng), 傳染性 (zh) (chuánrǎnxìng)

• Czech: nakažlivý (cs) m
• Dutch: aanstekelijk (nl), besmettelijk (nl)
• Finnish: tarttuva (fi)
• French: contagieux (fr)
• Georgian: გადამდები (gadamdebi), კონტაგიოზური (ḳonṭagiozuri), ინფექციური (inpekciuri)
• German: ansteckend (de), kontagiös (de)
• Greek: μεταδοτικός (el) m (metadotikós)
• Hungarian: fertőző (hu)
• Irish: gabhálach

• Italian: contagioso (it), infettivo (it)
• Japanese: 伝染性の (でんせんせいの, densensei no)
• Latvian: lipīgs
• Maori: mauhoro
• Polish: zaraźliwy (pl) m
• Portuguese: contagiante (pt), contagioso (pt)
• Romanian: contagios (ro), molipsitor (ro)
• Russian: зара́зный (ru) (zaráznyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: zarazan (sh)
• Spanish: contagioso (es), infeccioso (es) m, contagiante
• Swedish: smittsam (sv)
• Tagalog: nakalalalin, nakahahawa
• Turkish: bulaşıcı (tr)

of a fashion, laughter, etc, easily passed on to others

• Bulgarian: заразителен (bg) (zarazitelen)
• Catalan: contagiós (ca), encomanadís
• Czech: nakažlivý (cs) m
• Dutch: aanstekelijk (nl), besmettelijk (nl)
• Finnish: tarttuva (fi)
• French: contagieux (fr)
• Georgian: გადამდები (gadamdebi)
• German: ansteckend (de)
• Greek: μεταδοτικός (el) m (metadotikós)
• Hungarian: fertőző (hu)

• Icelandic: smitandi
• Irish: gabhálach
• Italian: contagioso (it)
• Polish: zaraźliwy (pl) m
• Portuguese: contagiante (pt)
• Russian: зарази́тельный (ru) (zarazítelʹnyj)
• Spanish: contagioso (es)
• Swedish: smittsam (sv)
• Tagalog: nakakahawa
• Turkish: bulaşıcı (tr)

capable of spreading a disease

• Catalan: contagiós (ca)
• Dutch: besmettelijk (nl)
• Finnish: tartuntavaarallinen
• French: contagieux (fr)
• Georgian: ინფექციის წარმომშობი (inpekciis c̣armomšobi), ინფექციის გადამდები (inpekciis gadamdebi)
• German: ansteckend (de)

• Hungarian: fertőző (hu)
• Italian: contagioso (it), infettivo (it)
• Portuguese: contagiante (pt), contagioso (pt)
• Romanian: contagios (ro)
• Swedish: smittbärande

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 전염성이 있는 (jeonyeomseong-i inneun)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} contagiosus
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} smittefarlig
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} контагиозно

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} contagiozno

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} contagioso (es)

Further reading

• contagious on Wikipedia.Wikipedia