| n. | 1. | |
| 1. | The act or process of infecting. | |
| 2. | That which infects, or causes the communicated disease; any effluvium, miasm, or pestilential matter by which an infectious disease is caused. | |
| 3. | The state of being infected; the condition of suffering from an infectious disease; contamination by morbific particles; the result of infecting influence; a prevailing disease; epidemic. | |
| 4. | That which taints or corrupts morally; | |
| 5. | (Law) Contamination by illegality, as in cases of contraband goods; implication. | |
| 6. | Sympathetic communication of like qualities or emotions; influence. | |
| 7. | A localized area of tissue which is inflamed by growth of microorganisms; |
| Noun | 1. | infection - the pathological state resulting from the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms |
| 2. | infection - (phonetics) the alteration of a speech sound under the influence of a neighboring sound | |
| 3. | infection - (medicine) the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms and their multiplication which can lead to tissue damage and disease | |
| 4. | infection - an incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted Synonyms: contagion, transmission | |
| 5. | infection - the communication of an attitude or emotional state among a number of people; "a contagion of mirth"; "the infection of his enthusiasm for poetry" Synonyms: contagion | |
| 6. | infection - moral corruption or contamination; "ambitious men are led astray by an infection that is almost unavoidable" | |
| 7. | infection - (international law) illegality that taints or contaminates a ship or cargo rendering it liable to seizure |