infective
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L337713 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɪnˈfɛktɪv/
adj
Etymology: Etymology tree English infect Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English infective From infect + -ive.
- Able to cause infection; infectious
“Hirsch has followed a group of 85 health care workers who were exposed to blood and bodily fluids of persons with AIDS. Thirty had been exposed by accidentally sticking themselves with needles containing blood and three had been spattered or had an open wound exposed to potentially infective blood.”
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree English infect Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English infective From infect + -ive.
- A person who is capable of spreading a disease by infecting others.
“It is evident that the greater the number of susceptibles, then the greater the increase in the number of infectives.”