From Middle French infect, from Latin infectus, perfect passive participle of inficiō (“dye, taint”).
Meanings
(not-comparable, obsolete) Infected.
And in the imitation of these twain, / Who, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns / With an imperial voice, many are infect. c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], line 187:
From Middle French infect, from Latin infectus, perfect passive participle of inficiō (“dye, taint”).
Meanings
(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.
Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. 2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193:
Ms. Tang’s inevitable contact with people who are ill has started to worry her. It did not help when she learned that someone living in a building near her own, in Siu Sai Wan, had been infected by the virus. 2020 February 18, Isabella Kwai, “How a Pharmacy Handles Mask Hoarders and Coronavirus Fears”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2020, Asia Pacific:
(transitive) To contaminate (an object or substance) with a pathogen.
(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.
Guido, by way of diverting the embarrassment which seemed to infect them all, began to unfasten the packet of letters. 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 164:
(transitive) Of a computer virus: to insert its own code into (another executable file).
fi tartuttaa (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ast contaxar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ru инфици́ровать (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · nrf înfecter (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ro contagia (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · ka დასენიანება (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ka გადასცემს (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · ru заража́ть (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · vi nhiễm (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ja 感染させる (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · nn smitta (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ro contamina (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · pl zakażać (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · fr infecter (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · nl infecteren (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · da smitte (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · af aansteek (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · cho abekʋchi (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · hu megfertőz (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · lv inficēt (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ru зарази́ть (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · pl zarażać (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · de anstecken (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · nl infecteren (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · sv infektera (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ms jangkit (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · sv smitta (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · ar أَعْدَى (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ta தொற்று (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · es inficionar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ast infestar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · hu fertőz (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · pl zakazić (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · grc ἀναπίμπλημι (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · es contagiar (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · ka გადაცემა (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · pl zarazić (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ga ionfhabhtaigh (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · cmn 感染 (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · vi lan truyền (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · cs infikovat (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · de anstecken (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · pt infectar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · fr infecter (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · lt užkrėsti (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · sl okužiti (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · oc infectar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ka დასნებოვნება (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · sl okužiti (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · nl besmetten (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · vi lây (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · hu megfertőz (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · ru зарази́ть (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · cmn 傳染 /传染 (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · gl infectar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ga galraigh (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · bg заразявам (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · bg заразявам (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · km ឆ្លង (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · vo näfätön (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ka გადადება (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · es infectar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · cmn 感染 (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ca contagiar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · es alborotar (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · mi whakapoke (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · sv smitta (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ru заража́ть (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · io infektar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ka ინფიცირება (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · fi tartuttaa (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · es contagiar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ka გადადება (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · pt contagiar (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · bo རྣག་བསགས (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · de infizieren (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · cs nakazit (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · qu qatiy (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · it contagiare (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · de infizieren (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ro infecta (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ka გადასდებს (to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion) · eo infekti (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · pt contagiar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · ca infectar (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · th ติดเชื้อ (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness) · it infettare (to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness)