Meanings
plural fomites
- medicineAn inanimate object capable of carrying infectious agents (such as bacteria, viruses or prions), and thus passively enabling their transmission between hosts; common examples include towels, dishcloths, kitchenware/flatware, and laundry.
This must be an efficacious fomite of cutaneous and pectoral disease.
1859, Richard Francis Burton, “The Lake Regions of Central Equatorial Africa...”, in Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, number 29, page 1341 more example
Alternatively, such fluids may be transferred from soiled hands to fomites, or airborne organisms may impinge or settle onto fomite surfaces. Fomites may also serve as a site for the replication of a pathogen, as in the case of enteric bacteria in household sponges or dishcloths.
2009, Raina M. Maier et al., Environmental Microbiology, page 559Synonyms: fomes
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn inanimate object capable of carrying infectious agents (such as bacteria, viruses or prions), and thus passively enabling their transmission between hosts; common examples include towels, dishcloths, kitchenware/flatware, and laundry.
More synonyms by meaning
nounany inanimate object (as a towel or money or clothing or dishes or books or toys etc.) that can transmit infectious agents from one person to another
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Catalan fòmit
- fòmitinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Chinese Mandarin 傳染物 /传染物, 媒介物
- 傳染物 /传染物 (chuánrǎnwù)inanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
- 媒介物 (méijièwù)inanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
- 病媒 (bìngméi)inanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Dutch fomiet
- fomietinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Finnish fomiitti
- fomiittiinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
French vecteur passif, fomite
- vecteur passifinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
- fomiteinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
German Fomite, Infektionsträger
- Fomiteinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
- Infektionsträgerinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Irish fóimít
- fóimítinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Italian fomite
- fomiteinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Japanese 媒介物
- 媒介物 (baikaibutsu)inanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Korean 매개물
- 매개물 (maegaemul)inanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Portuguese fómite, fômite
- fómiteinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
- fômiteinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Romanian fomite
- fomiteinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Russian возбуди́тель, перено́счик
- возбуди́тель (vozbudítelʹ)inanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
- перено́счик (perenósčik)inanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
- посре́дник (posrédnik)inanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
- фомиты (fomity)inanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Spanish fómite
- fómiteinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Turkish fomit
- fomitinanimate object capable of transferring infectious agents
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with fomite
All rhymes →Cite this entry
fomite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fomite
“fomite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fomite. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fomite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fomite.
Source: fomite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.