infect

I1N1F4E1C3T1
/ɪnˈfɛkt//ˈɪnfɛkt/

verb

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.

“Her passion for dancing has infected me.”

Similar
lepertaint
Opposite
disinfect
OriginMiddle French infect ← Latin infectus →
Less commonScrabble 11
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Meanings

infect1

verbinfect (third-person singular simple present infects, present participle infecting, simple past and past participle infected)

present singular third person infects · participle present infecting · participle past infected · past infected

  1. transitiveTo 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.

    2 more examples

    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
  2. transitiveTo contaminate (an object or substance) with a pathogen.

    Synonyms: leper

  3. transitiveTo 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.

    1 more example

    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
  4. transitivecomputingOf a computer virus: to insert its own code into (another executable file).
adjectiveinfect (not comparable)
  1. not comparableobsoleteInfected.

    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

infect2

adjectiveinfect (not comparable)
  1. not comparableraregrammarRepresenting an action not yet completed.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo contaminate (an object or substance) with a pathogen.

Similar
leper
Opposite
disinfect

More synonyms by meaning

verbcontaminate with a disease or microorganism

Similar
taint
Opposite
disinfect
Broader
pollutefoulcontaminate
Also see
affectaggravatediseasedleperqueersicktaintunwelluplift

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

infect · verb, adjective

  1. Latininfectus
  2. Middle Frenchinfect
  3. Englishinfect

From Middle French infect, from Latin infectus, perfect passive participle of inficiō (“dye, taint”).

More words from Middle French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

infect · adjective

  1. Latinīnfectus
  2. Englishinfect

Borrowed from Latin īnfectus, equivalent to in- (“not”) + factus, perfect passive participle of faciō (“to do, make”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans aansteek
  • aansteekto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Ancient Greek ἀναπίμπλημι
  • ἀναπίμπλημι (anapímplēmi)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Arabic أَعْدَى
  • أَعْدَى (ʔaʕdā)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Bulgarian заразявам, заразявам
  • заразявам (zarazjavam)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • заразявам (zarazjavam)to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Catalan infectar, contagiar
  • infectarto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • contagiarto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Chinese Mandarin 傳染 /传染, 感染
  • 傳染 /传染 (chuánrǎn)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • 感染 (gǎnrǎn)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • 感染 (gǎnrǎn)to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Czech nakazit, infikovat
  • nakazitto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • infikovatto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Danish smitte
  • smitteto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Dutch infecteren, besmetten
  • infecterento bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • besmettento bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • infecterento make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Esperanto infekti
  • infektito bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Finnish tartuttaa, tartuttaa
  • tartuttaato bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • tartuttaato make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
French infecter, infecter
  • infecterto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • infecterto make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
German anstecken, infizieren
  • ansteckento bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • infizierento bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • ansteckento make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
  • infizierento make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Hungarian fertőz, megfertőz
  • fertőzto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • megfertőzto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • megfertőzto make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Irish galraigh, ionfhabhtaigh
  • galraighto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • ionfhabhtaighto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Italian contagiare, infettare
  • contagiareto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • infettareto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Japanese 感染させる
  • 感染させる (kansen saseru)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Latvian inficēt
  • inficētto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Lithuanian užkrėsti
  • užkrėstito bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Malay jangkit
  • jangkitto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Māori whakapoke
  • whakapoketo bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Polish zakażać, zakazić
  • zakażaćto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • zakazićto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • zarażaćto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • zarazićto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Portuguese infectar, contagiar
  • infectarto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • contagiarto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • contagiarto make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Romanian infecta, contamina
  • infectato bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • contaminato bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • contagiato make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Russian заража́ть, зарази́ть
  • заража́ть (zaražátʹ)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • зарази́ть (zarazítʹ)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • инфици́ровать (inficírovatʹ)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • заража́ть (zaražátʹ)to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
  • зарази́ть (zarazítʹ)to make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Spanish infectar, contagiar
  • infectarto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • contagiarto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • inficionarto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • contagiarto make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
  • alborotarto make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Swedish smitta, infektera
  • smittato bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • infekterato bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • smittato make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion
Tamil தொற்று
  • தொற்று (toṟṟu)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Thai ติดเชื้อ
  • ติดเชื้อ (dtìt-chʉ́ʉa)to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
Vietnamese nhiễm, lây
  • nhiễmto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • lâyto bring into contact with a substance that causes illness
  • lan truyềnto make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with infect

subjectprojectselectdirecteffectobjectperfectrespectconnectcorrectprotectexpectaffectreflectcollectcheckedsuspectdetectincorrectindirectprospectelectdefectneglect
All rhymes →

Anagrams

netfic
Cite this entry
APA

infect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infect

MLA

“infect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infect. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “infect,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infect.

Source: infect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.