Wordwyrt

infection

/ˌɪnˈfekʃən/in-FEK-shuhn
/ˌɪnˈfɛkʃən/in-FEK-shuhn

Meaningthe act of infecting

Common meaning: the passing of a disease

Other meanings: an illness caused by germs

‘in, into’ + ‘to make’ → infection

Journey through time

  1. Latininfectus‘stained, tainted’source
  2. Englishinfect‘to pass a disease to’
  3. Englishformed in English from infectinfection‘the passing of a disease’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from infect + -ion.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), INFECT, p.292 · scan

Roots

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app