infection

[in-fek-shuhn]

noun

1. an act or fact of infecting; state of being infected.

2. an infecting with germs of disease, as through the medium of infected insects, air, water, or clothing.

3. an infecting agency or influence.

4. an infectious disease.

   Is this infection very dangerous?

5. the condition of suffering an infection.

6. corruption of another's opinions, beliefs, moral principles, etc.; moral contamination.

7. an influence or impulse passing from one to another and affecting feeling or action.

8. Grammar.,  (in Celtic languages) assimilation in which a vowel is influenced by a following vowel or semivowel; umlaut.

infection

/ ɪnˈfɛkʃən /

noun

1. invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms

2. the resulting condition in the tissues

3. an infectious disease

4. the act of infecting or state of being infected

5. an agent or influence that infects

6. persuasion or corruption, as by ideas, perverse influences, etc

infection

1. The invasion of the body of a human or an animal by a pathogen such as a bacterium, fungus, or virus. Infections can be localized, as in pharyngitis, or widespread as in sepsis, and are often accompanied by fever and an increased number of white blood cells. Individuals with immunodeficiency syndromes are predisposed to certain infections.

2. See also infectious disease opportunistic infection

infection

1. Invasion of the body or a body part by a pathogenic organism, which multiplies and produces harmful effects on the body's tissues.

Other Word Forms

• noninfection noun
• postinfection adjective
• preinfection noun
• reinfection noun
• subinfection noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of infection¹

1350–1400; Middle English infeccio ( u ) n < Late Latin infectiōn- (stem of infectiō ). See infect, -ion

Example Sentences

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 has been awarded for discoveries that explain how the immune system attacks hostile infections, but not the body's own cells.

From BBC

Mr McKeown said despite the infection being detected in only one house out of three, all birds on the site - estimated to be about 20,000 - will be culled.

From BBC

Meningitis is the swelling of the meninges – the tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord – and it is usually caused by a bacterial infection.

From BBC

"There's nothing that we can do at the moment to stop the number of infections that have already happened over the past year, and that are happening now. That's what's really terrifying."

From BBC

Sheena Cruickshank, an immunologist and professor in biomedical sciences at the University of Manchester, describes it as a "mixing pot" of infections.

From BBC

Related Words

• bug 
• disease 
• epidemic 
• flu 
• pollution 
• virus