Contagion
[kən'teɪdʒ(ə)n] or [kən'tedʒən]
Definition
(noun.) the communication of an attitude or emotional state among a number of people; 'a contagion of mirth'; 'the infection of his enthusiasm for poetry'.
Editor: Lucius--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The transmission of a disease from one person to another, by direct or indirect contact.
(n.) That which serves as a medium or agency to transmit disease; a virus produced by, or exhalation proceeding from, a diseased person, and capable of reproducing the disease.
(n.) The act or means of communicating any influence to the mind or heart; as, the contagion of enthusiasm.
(n.) Venom; poison.
Inputed by Edgar
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Infection.[2]. Contamination, taint.
Checker: Lorenzo
Definition
n. transmission of a disease from the sick to the healthy either by direct contact of a part affected with the disease or through the medium of the excretions or exhalations of the body.—n. Contā′gionist one who believes that certain diseases are contagious.—adj. Contā′gious that may be communicated by contact.—adv. Contā′giously.—ns. Contā′giousness; Contā′gium the supposed morbific matter by means of which disease spreads.—Contagious Diseases Acts a series of laws passed in 1865 and succeeding years for the better regulation of prostitutes in certain seaport and military towns.
Editor: Nat
Examples
- We, a commercial people, were obliged to bring such schemes under consideration; and the question of contagion became matter of earnest disquisition. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- In some men it is half-conscious, in others a minor influence, but almost no one of weight escapes the contagion of it entirely. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The feeling of perfect health which I enjoyed, assured me that I was free from contagion. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Did his languid air attest that he also was struck with contagion? Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- They hurried away, as soon as they saw me; my agitated mien added to their fear of coming near one who had entered within the verge of contagion. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Presently he himself took the contagion and died (428 B.C.). H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Henle, a German physiologist, as early as 1840, maintained the doctrine of _contagium vivum_, or contagion by the transmission of living germs. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- There is not a drop of Tom's corrupted blood but propagates infection and contagion somewhere. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- When he discovered our troop, fear of contagion conquered his love of society. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
Checked by Letitia