'Contagion' definitions:
Definition of 'contagion'
(from WordNet)
noun
Any disease easily transmitted by contact [syn: contagious disease, contagion]
noun
An incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted [syn: infection, contagion, transmission]
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" [syn: contagion, infection]
Definition of 'Contagion'
From: GCIDE
- Contagion \Con*ta"gion\ (k[o^]n*t[=a]"j[u^]n), n. [L. contagio: cf. F. contagion. See Contact.]
- 1. (Med.) The transmission of a disease from one person to another, by direct or indirect contact. [1913 Webster]
- Note: The term has been applied by some to the action of miasmata arising from dead animal or vegetable matter, bogs, fens, etc., but in this sense it is now abandoned. --Dunglison. [1913 Webster]
- And will he steal out of his wholesome bed To dare the vile contagion of the night? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 2. 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. [1913 Webster]
- 3. The act or means of communicating any influence to the mind or heart; as, the contagion of enthusiasm. "The contagion of example." --Eikon Basilike. [1913 Webster]
- When lust . . . Lets in defilement to the inward parts, The soul grows clotted by contagion. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Venom; poison. [Obs.] "I'll touch my point with this contagion." --Shak.
- Syn: See Infection. [1913 Webster]