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infect

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infect¹

  • /ɪnˈfɛkt/

Rhymes with -ɛkt

Where it comes from

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

verb infects · infecting · 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.
  2. transitive To contaminate (an object or substance) with a pathogen.

    Similar: leper

  3. transitive To make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion, or to communicate a feeling to others, or a feeling communicating itself to others. Her passion for dancing has infected me.
  4. transitive Of a computer virus: to insert its own code into (another executable file).

Opposite: disinfect

adjective

  1. not comparable, obsolete Infected. And in the imitation of these twain, / Who, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns / With an imperial voice, many are infect.

infect²

  • /ˈɪnfɛkt/

Rhymes with -ɪnfɛkt

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Latin īnfectus, equivalent to in- (“not”) + factus, perfect passive participle of faciō (“to do, make”).

adjective

  1. not comparable, rare, of a tense or verb form Representing an action not yet completed.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: taint, inspire, revolutionize, infectious, infection, lancet, contaminate, afflict, hit, affect, reach, transmit, convey, gynecol, immun, pollute

verb

Opposite: disinfect

Translations

Every language

verb to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness

Españolinfectar, contagiar, inficionar
日本語感染させる kansen saseru
中文傳染 /传染 chuánrǎn, 感染 gǎnrǎn
Portuguêsinfectar, contagiar
Françaisinfecter
Deutschanstecken, infizieren
Italianocontagiare, infettare
Românăinfecta, contamina
Русскийзаража́ть zaražátʹ, зарази́ть zarazítʹ, инфици́ровать inficírovatʹ
Tiếng Việtnhiễm, lây
العربيةأَعْدَى ʔaʕdā

verb to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion

Españolcontagiar, alborotar
中文感染 gǎnrǎn
Portuguêscontagiar
Françaisinfecter
Deutschanstecken, infizieren
Românăcontagia
Русскийзаража́ть zaražátʹ, зарази́ть zarazítʹ
Tiếng Việtlan truyền

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MLA

"infect." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/infect. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

infect. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/infect

Chicago

"infect." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/infect.

BibTeX
@misc{infect_2026,
  title = {infect},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/infect},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}