Coffee has initially been a food – chewed, not sipped. Early African tribes consume coffee by grinding the berries together, adding some animal fat, and rolling the treats into tiny edible energy balls.
CONTAGION
contagion, infection
(noun) the communication of an attitude or emotional state among a number of people; “a contagion of mirth”; “the infection of his enthusiasm for poetry”
infection, contagion, transmission
(noun) an incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
contagion (countable and uncountable, plural contagions)
a disease spread by contact
the spread or transmission of such a disease
Synonym: infection
(figuratively, by extension) the spread of anything harmful, as if it were such a disease
(finance) a situation in which small shocks, which initially affect only a few financial institutions or a particular region of an economy, spread to the rest of financial sectors and other countries whose economies were previously healthy
(finance) a resulting recession or crisis developed in such manner
Anagrams
• cognation
Source: Wiktionary
Con*ta"gion, n. Etym: [L. contagio: cf. F. contagion. See Contact.]
1. (Med.)
Definition: The transmission of a disease from one person to another, by direct or indirect contact.
Note: The term has been applied by some to the action of miasmata arising from dead animal or vegetable matter, bogs, fens, etc., but in this sense it is now abandoned. Dunglison. And will he steal out of his wholesome bed To dare the vile contagion of the night Shak.
2. That which serves as a medium or agency to transmit disease; a virus produced by, or exhalation proceeding from, a diseased person, and capable of reproducing the disease.
3. The act or means of communicating any influence to the mind or heart; as, the contagion of enthusiasm. "The contagion of example." Eikon Basilike. When lust . . . Lets in defilement to the inward parts, The soul grows clotted by contagion. Milton.
4. Venom; poison. [Obs.] "I'll touch my point with this contagion." Shak.
Syn.
– See Infection.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
18 December 2024
ROOT
(noun) (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; “thematic vowels are part of the stem”
Coffee Trivia
