INFECTION
infection
(noun) (international law) illegality that taints or contaminates a ship or cargo rendering it liable to seizure
infection
(noun) moral corruption or contamination; “ambitious men are led astray by an infection that is almost unavoidable”
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
infection
(noun) (medicine) the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms and their multiplication which can lead to tissue damage and disease
infection
(noun) (phonetics) the alteration of a speech sound under the influence of a neighboring sound
infection
(noun) the pathological state resulting from the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
infection (countable and uncountable, plural infections)
(pathology) The act or process of infecting.
An uncontrolled growth of harmful microorganisms in a host.
Source: Wiktionary
In*fec"tion, n. Etym: [Cf. F. infection, L. infectio a dyeing.]
1. The act or process of infecting.
There was a strict order against coming to those pits, and that was
only to prevent infection. De Foe.
2. That which infects, or causes the communicated disease; any
effluvium, miasm, or pestilential matter by which an infectious
disease is caused.
And that which was still worse, they that did thus break out spread
the infection further by their wandering about with the distemper
upon them. De Foe.
3. The state of being infected; contamination by morbific particles;
the result of infecting influence; a prevailing disease; epidemic.
The danger was really very great, the infection being so very violent
in London. De Foe.
4. That which taints or corrupts morally; as, the infection of
vicious principles.
It was her chance to light Amidst the gross infections of those
times. Daniel.
5. (Law)
Definition: Contamination by illegality, as in cases of contraband goods;
implication.
6. Sympathetic communication of like qualities or emotions;
influence.
Through all her train the soft infection ran. Pope.
Mankind are gay or serious by infection. Rambler.
Syn.
– Infection, Contagion.
– Infection is often used in a definite and limited sense of the
transmission of affections without direct contact of individuals or
immediate application or introduction of the morbific agent, in
contradistinction to contagion, which then implies transmission by
direct contact. Quain. See Contagious.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition