Contagious
/kənˈteɪ.dʒəs/noun
Able to spread from one person, animal, or thing to another by direct or indirect contact.
Did you know?Contagious comes from Latin *contagium*, from *contingere* meaning “to touch,” proving that long before germ theory, people understood spread as something that passes by contact.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*tag-
“to touch or handle”
Latin
Latin
contingere
“to touch, come into contact with”
Late Latin
Latin
contagiosus
“liable to spread by touch; infectious”
Middle English
English
contagious
“infectious, spreading by contact”
Modern English
English
contagious
“able to spread from one to another through contact or proximity”
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