infect.
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.
Meaning & usage
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.
To contaminate (an object or substance) with a pathogen.
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.
Of a computer virus: to insert its own code into (another executable file).
Where this word comes from
From Middle French infect, from Latin infectus, perfect passive participle of inficiō (“dye, taint”).
Infected.
Where this word comes from
From Middle French infect, from Latin infectus, perfect passive participle of inficiō (“dye, taint”).
Representing an action not yet completed.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Latin īnfectus, equivalent to in- (“not”) + factus, perfect passive participle of faciō (“to do, make”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.