infect
- 01 B1 Intermediate
to pass a disease or bacteria to a person, animal, or plant.
to contaminate a living organism with a pathogen, causing the onset of illness or disease.
Simple“The flu can easily infect everyone in the office if people don't stay home.”
In context“Public health officials were concerned that the new strain might infect a significant portion of the population before a vaccine could be distributed.”
SynonymsAntonymsdisinfectimmunize - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
to pass a harmful program or virus to a computer or a file.
to corrupt a computer system or data file by introducing a virus or malware.
Simple“Be careful not to open suspicious emails, as they could infect your laptop.”
In context“The malware was designed to infect the entire corporate network by exploiting a vulnerability in the outdated server software.”
Synonyms
Usage infect bacteria
From Middle French infect, from Latin infectus, perfect passive participle of inficiō (“dye, taint”).
Borrowed from Latin īnfectus, equivalent to in- (“not”) + factus, perfect passive participle of faciō (“to do, make”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.