Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Infect
In-fect′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Infected
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Infecting
.] [L.
infectus
, p. p. of inficere
to put or dip into, to stain, infect; pref. in-
in + facere
to make; cf. F. infecter
. See Fact
.] 1.
To taint with morbid matter or any pestilential or noxious substance or effluvium by which disease is produced;
as, to
infect
a lancet; to infect
an apartment.2.
To affect with infectious disease; to communicate infection to;
as,
. infected
with the plagueThem that were left alive being
infected
with this disease. Sir T. North.
3.
To communicate to or affect with, as qualities or emotions, esp. bad qualities; to corrupt; to contaminate; to taint by the communication of anything noxious or pernicious.
Cowper.
Infected
Ston’s daughters with like heat. Milton.
Syn. – To poison; vitiate; pollute; defile.
Webster 1828 Edition
Infect
INFECT'
,Verb.
T.
1.
To taint with disease; to infuse into a healthy body the virus, miasma, or morbid matter of a diseased body, or any pestilential or noxious air or substance by which a disease is produced. Persons in health are infected by the contagion of the plague, of syphilis, of small pox, of measles, of malignant fevers. In some cases, persons can be infected only by contact, as in syphilis; in most cases,they may be infected without contact with the diseased body.2.
To taint or affect with morbid or noxious matter; as, to infect a lancet; to infect clothing; to infect an apartment.3.
To communicate bad qualities to; to corrupt; to taint by the communication of any thing noxious or pernicious. It is melancholy to see the young infected and corrupted by vicious examples, or the minds of our citizens infected with errors.4.
To contaminate with illegality.INFECT'
,Adj.
Definition 2024
infect
infect
English
Verb
infect (third-person singular simple present infects, present participle infecting, simple past and past participle infected)
- (transitive) To bring into contact with a substance that causes illness (a pathogen).
- 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.
-
- (transitive) To make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion.
- Her passion for dancing has infected me.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
|
to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Adjective
infect (not comparable)
- (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.
- 1602, William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, I. iii. 187: