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infect

in·fect
I i

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [in-fekt]
    • /ɪnˈfɛkt/
    • /ɪnˈfekt/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [in-fekt]
    • /ɪnˈfɛkt/

Definitions of infect word

  • verb with object infect to affect or contaminate (a person, organ, wound, etc.) with disease-producing germs. 1
  • verb with object infect to affect with disease. 1
  • verb with object infect to taint or contaminate with something that affects quality, character, or condition unfavorably: to infect the air with poison gas. 1
  • verb with object infect to corrupt or affect morally: The news of the gold strike infected him with greed. 1
  • verb with object infect to imbue with some pernicious belief, opinion, etc. 1
  • verb with object infect to affect with a computer virus. 1
See all 32 definitions of infect

Information block about the term

Origin of infect

First appearance:

before 1350
One of the 20% oldest English words
1350-1400; Middle English infecten < Latin infectus (past participle of inficere to immerse in dye, discolor, taint, poison), equivalent to in- in-2 + -fec-, combining form of facere to do1, make (see fact) + -tus past participle suffix

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Infect

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Infect

infect popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 90% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

infect usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for infect

verb infect

  • touch — to put the hand, finger, etc., on or into contact with (something) to feel it: He touched the iron cautiously.
  • affect — If something affects a person or thing, it influences them or causes them to change in some way.
  • taint — the area between the testicles or vulva and the anus; the perineum.
  • poison — a substance with an inherent property that tends to destroy life or impair health.
  • defile — To defile something that people think is important or holy means to do something to it or say something about it which is offensive.

adjective infect

  • overspread — to spread or diffuse over: A blush of embarrassment overspread his face.
  • worrier — to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.
  • infest — to live in or overrun to an unwanted degree or in a troublesome manner, especially as predatory animals or vermin do: Sharks infested the coastline.
  • filler — an aluminum coin of Hungary, the 100th part of a forint.
  • packer — a group of things wrapped or tied together for easy handling or carrying; a bundle, especially one to be carried on the back of an animal or a person: a mule pack; a hiker's pack.
All 31 Synonyms of infect

Antonyms for infect

verb infect

  • purify — to make pure; free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates: to purify metals.
  • aid — Aid is money, equipment, or services that are provided for people, countries, or organizations who need them but cannot provide them for themselves.
  • protect — to defend or guard from attack, invasion, loss, annoyance, insult, etc.; cover or shield from injury or danger.
  • help — to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist: He planned to help me with my work. Let me help you with those packages.
  • cleanse — To cleanse a place, person, or organization of something dirty, unpleasant, or evil means to make them free from it.
All 7 Antonyms of infect

Top questions with infect

  • what do bacteriophages infect?
  • what are the viruses that infect bacteria called?
  • how do viruses infect cells?
  • how does a virus infect a host cell?
  • what cells does hiv infect?
  • how do prions which are misfolded proteins infect organisms?
  • how does hiv infect cells?
  • what does infect mean?
  • how do viruses infect computers?
  • how does hiv infect cd4 cells?
  • what organisms can viruses infect?

Related words

  • afflict

    If you are afflicted by pain, illness, or disaster, it affects you badly and makes you suffer.

  • bacteriophage

    a virus that is parasitic in a bacterium and multiplies within its host, which is destroyed when the new viruses are released

  • canker

    A canker is something evil that spreads and affects things or people.

  • disinfect

    to cleanse (rooms, wounds, clothing, etc.) of infection; destroy disease germs in.

  • enterovirus

    Any of a group of RNA viruses (including those causing polio and hepatitis A) that typically occur in the gastrointestinal tract, sometimes spreading to the central nervous system or other parts of the body.

  • gene transfer

    Biotechnology. the insertion of copies of a gene into living cells in order to induce synthesis of the gene's product: the desired gene may be microinjected directly into the cell or it may be inserted into the core of a virus by gene splicing and the virus allowed to infect the cell for replication of the gene in the cell's DNA.
All related words to infect

See also

Matching words

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