infective

[in-fek-tiv]

See more synonyms for infective on Thesaurus.com

adjective

infectious.

Origin of infective

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Medieval Latin word infectīvus. See infect, -ive

Related formsin·fec·tive·ness, in·fec·tiv·i·ty, nounun·in·fec·tive, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for infective

toxic, contagious, virulent, deadly, destructive, fatal, malignant, pernicious, noxious, dangerous, vicious, lethal, venomous, endemic, taking, pandemic, epidemic, bad, evil, poison

Examples from the Web for infective

Historical Examples of infective

Is not this the way that infective diseases have appeared on the earth from age to age?
Experiments on Animals
Stephen Paget
It was no new thing to say, or to guess, that phthisis was or might be infective.
Experiments on Animals
Stephen Paget
As with typhoid, so with Malta fever, cholera, and some other infective diseases.
Experiments on Animals
Stephen Paget
But morbus pauperum is not the only principle of infective disease.
A History of Epidemics in Britain (Volume I of II)
Charles Creighton
Nor does the blood imbibed by the flea cease to be infective when it passes from the stomach.
The Flea
Harold Russell

British Dictionary definitions for infective

infective

adjective

capable of causing infection
a less common word for infectious

Derived Formsinfectively, adverbinfectiveness or infectivity, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for infective

adj.

late 14c., from Latin infectivus, from infectus (see infect).

infective in Medicine

infective

[ĭn-fĕk′tĭv]

adj.

Capable of producing infection; infectious.

Related formsin•fec′tive•ness null n.