contagious

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪdʒəs

Adjective

contagious (comparative more contagious, superlative most contagious)

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

   Antonyms: noncontagious, noncommunicable, nontransmissible

   Hypernyms: infectious, communicable, transmissible, spreadable, catching

   Last year's flu strain was so contagious that everybody in town got sick!

2. (figurative) Easily passed on to others.

   Synonyms: infectious, spreadable

   contagious enthusiasm; infectious laughter

   Wearing jeans was a contagious fad at that time.

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Success”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 75:

     The taverns of our ancestors would ill bear contrasting with the clubs of to-day; but many a gay midnight was past in the former:—midnights, whose mirth has descended even to us; half the jests, whose gaiety is still contagious; half the epigrams, whose point is yet felt, were born of those brief and brilliant hours.

   • 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.

4. Contiguous.
   • 19th century, Zozimus (lyrics and music), “The Finding of Moses”:

     In Agypt's land contaygious to the Nile / Old Pharao's daughter went to bathe in style,

Synonyms

• catching

Antonyms

• non-contagious
• noncontagious

Derived terms

• contagion
• contagious abortion
• contagious fire
• contagiously
• contagiousness
• contagious shooting

 

Translations

of a disease, easily transmitted to others

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

  Mandarin: 传染性 (zh) (chuánrǎnxìng), 傳染性／传染性 (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)
• Kapampangan: macaiaua (traditional), makayawa (modern)
• Latvian: lipīgs
• Maori: mauhoro
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: халдвартай (xaldvartaj)

• 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), 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 (ca)
• 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: nakahahawa
• 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)
• Spanish: contagioso (es)
• Swedish: smittbärande

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. 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

Further reading

• contagious on Wikipedia.Wikipedia