infectious English · revision 39470

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1534, T. Paynell's translation of a treatise against the plague|origins=la īnficiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɪnˈfɛk.ʃəs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|en|infection|-ous]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) ''Infection'' comes from [[fro|infeccion]] and [[la-lat|īnfectiō|t=infection, contagion]], from [[m|la|īnficiō|t=to spoil, stain]].^(Etymonline) Earlier words in the same sense were [[infectuous]] (late 15th century) and [[infective]] (late 14th century).^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Causing or spreading disease, especially of an epidemic kind: 1534, in T. Paynell's translation of a treatise against the plague.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline dates the word to the 1540s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of a disease itself, capable of spreading from one person or animal to another, it is recorded from 1575.^(OED 2026) In the 16th century it could also mean infected (1542 to 1727) and venomous (1585 to 1658).^(OED 2026) By 1574 it was used of things that taint the character or morals, and in Beaumont and Fletcher (1619) of actions and emotions that spread easily from one person to another, such as laughter.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) In 19th-century international law, ''infectious'' contraband made the rest of a cargo, or the ship, liable to seizure (1812).^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1534 – causing or spreading disease.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1542 – infected (until 1727).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1574 – corrupting morals or character.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1575 – of a disease, transmissible.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1619 – of an emotion or action, easily spread.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1812 – (international law) of contraband.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1824 – used in the care of infectious patients.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a disease, caused by [[microorganism|alt=microorganisms]] such as [[bacterium|alt=bacteria]] or [[virus|alt=viruses]] and able to spread from one person or animal to another.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # Capable of causing [[infection]]; likely to pass on a disease.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Of a feeling or action, spreading quickly to others: ''His laugh was so infectious that the whole room joined in.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (international law) Of goods, making the rest of a cargo liable to seizure.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[infectiously]]

+ * [[infectiousness]]

+ * [[uninfectious]]

+ * [[infectious mononucleosis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[infect]]

+ * [[infection]]

+ * [[infective]]

+ * [[contagious]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Etymonline notes that from the 1540s ''infection'' meant disease passed on through air or water, as distinct from ''contagion'', passed from body to body.^(Etymonline) Chambers keeps a similar distinction, defining a ''contagious'' disease as one spread by ordinary social contact, in contrast with ''infectious''.^(Chambers 2008)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}