transmissible
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of transmissible
1635–45; < Latin trānsmiss ( us ) ( see transmission) + -ible
Explanation
Having a transmissible illness is a good excuse to stay home from school or work: it means that whatever bug you have spreads very easily to other people. The dangerous thing about viruses like polio, smallpox, Covid-19, and the flu is that they're extremely transmissible, spreading easily from person to person. Depending on the pathogen, this happens when a sick person sneezes, coughs, or touches a surface with germy fingers. The Latin root of transmissible is transmittere, "transfer or send across," from trans-, "across," and mittere, "to send or throw."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“In conditions when people are not aware, this virus might be transmissible, especially at the beginning of an outbreak,” he says.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026
Scientists have rejected the idea that a recent mutation made the Andes virus transmissible between humans.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
But the 18-year-old said she and her friends had become less worried, as they now know "meningitis is not very transmissible".
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
Every time a bird flu virus infects a person, concerns grow that it could change, becoming more transmissible or more deadly.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2025
The inner strength of another life to which we surrender is, as Phillips Brooks somewhere says, "directly transmissible."
From Theology and the Social Consciousness A Study of the Relations of the Social Consciousness to Theology (2nd ed.) by King, Henry Churchill
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
