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infection (n.)
late 14c., "infectious disease; contaminated condition;" from Old French infeccion "contamination, poisoning" (13c.) and directly from Late Latin infectionem (nominative infectio) "infection, contagion," noun of action from past participle stem of Latin inficere "to spoil, to stain" (see infect). Meaning "communication of disease by agency of air or water" (distinguished from contagion, which is body-to-body communication), is from 1540s.
updated on November 18, 2015
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Dictionary entries near infection
infatuate
infatuation
infeasibility
infeasible
infect
infection
infectious
infective
infecund
infelicitous
infelicity