contagious

(kən-tā'jəs)
adj.

1. Of or relating to contagion.
2. Transmissible by direct or indirect contact; communicable: a contagious disease.
3. Capable of transmitting disease; carrying a disease: stayed at home until he was no longer contagious.
4. Spreading or tending to spread from one to another; infectious: a contagious smile.

contagiously con·ta'gious·ly adv.
contagiousness con·ta'gious·ness n.

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A contagious disease is one transmitted by physical contact, as distinct from an infectious disease, which is transmitted by micro-organisms in the air or in water. In figurative use, contagious and infectious overlap in modifying positive or welcome things (e.g. delight, enthusiasm, laughter, sense of fun, and vigour), whereas contagious (but not typically infectious) is also extended to things that are unwelcome or unpleasant (e.g. corruption, folly, greed, guilt, panic, and suffering).

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adjective

Capable of transmission by infection: catching, communicable, infectious, taking. See move/halt.

adj

Definition: communicable
Antonyms: noncommunicable

IN BRIEF: A disease that is easily spread.

Don't bring Jenny to school if her cold is contagious.

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Capable of being transmitted from animal to animal.

• c. abortion — see brucellosis.
• c. agalactia — acute mastitis, arthritis and ophthalmitis with painful joint swelling in goats and sheep caused by Mycoplasma agalactiae. Occurs on every continent but outbreaks and severe disease occur particularly in the Mediterranean area and Africa. A triad of mastitis, arthritis and ocular disease sometimes accompanied with respiratory disease, abortion and diarrhea. Mycoplasma agalactiae is the main causal agent in sheep and goats, but M. agalactiae, M. mycoides subsp. mycoides large colony type and M. capricolum subsp. capricolum produce a similar if not identical clinical presentation. The udder is permanently damaged and many animals die.
• c. aphtha — see foot-and-mouth disease.
• c. avian epithelioma — see fowlpox.
• c. bovine pleuropneumonia — a highly infectious septicemia with a principal localization in the lungs, caused by Mycoplasma mycoides var. mycoides. It occurs only in cattle. The cardinal signs are cough, fever, dyspnea, pleuritic friction sounds and gurgling breath sounds on auscultation of the lungs. The case fatality rate is high. An important epidemiological characteristic is the common occurrence of carrier animals with sequestra of infected material in the lungs.
• c. bovine pyelonephritis — infection of the urinary tract of cattle by Corynebacterium cystitidis with lesions in the kidney, ureters and bladder. Diagnostic signs are the passage of urine containing blood or discrete red cells and pus, dysuria and palpable abnormalities per rectum of affected organs. Culture of urine confirms the diagnosis.
• c. caprine/ovine pleuropneumonia — highly infectious and fatal pleuropneumonia of goats and sheep caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae previously known as mycoplasma strain F38. The clinical picture includes a short course with cough, dyspnea, and abnormal lung and pleural sounds on auscultation.
• c. ecthyma — see contagious ecthyma.
• c. epididymitis and vaginitis — see epivag.
• equine c. acne — see canadian horsepox.
• c. equine metritis — a highly contagious venereal disease resident in mares and transmitted by the stallion, which shows no clinical signs. It is caused by Taylorella equigenitalis. Clinically there is a profuse purulent discharge from the vulva about a week after service, endometritis and cervicitis. Also associated with infertility and abortion. So highly contagious that most countries have strict control procedures to prevent entry or spread when detected.
• c. equine pustular dermatitis — see canadian horsepox.
• c. mastitis — see mastitis.
• c. ophthalmia — see contagious ophthalmia.
• c. ovine foot rot — see ovine footrot.
• c. ovine/caprine ophthalmia — see contagious ophthalmia.
• c. ovine pustular dermatitis — see contagious ecthyma.
• c. porcine pyoderma — an infectious disease of young sucking pigs characterized by pustules on the face and neck from which streptococci and staphylococci are isolatable. The disease develops from infection of bite wounds inflicted by piglets whose needle teeth have not been removed.
• c. pustular stomatitis — see horsepox.
• c. pyoderma — see exudative epidermitis.
• c. venereal infection of sheep — see ulcerative dermatosis.
• c. venereal tumor — see canine transmissible venereal tumor.

(kəntā′jus)
adj

Capable of being transmitted from one person to another by direct or indirect contact.

For a list of words related to contagious, see:

• Diagnostic Terminology - contagious: (adj) designating any communicable disease, esp. one transmitted by physical contact

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See words rhyming with "contagious."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Contagious.

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - smitsom, smittende

Nederlands (Dutch)
besmettelijk

Français (French)
adj. - (Méd, fig) contagieux

Deutsch (German)
adj. - ansteckend

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - (ιατρ., μτφ.) μεταδοτικός, κολλητικός, μολυσματικός, λοιμώδης

Italiano (Italian)
contagioso

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - contagioso

Русский (Russian)
заразный, инфекционный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - contagioso

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - smittsam, smittoförande

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
传染性的, 会传播的, 会蔓延的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 傳染性的, 會傳播的, 會蔓延的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 접촉 전염성의, 보균자인, 옮기 쉬운

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 感染性の, うつりやすい

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) معدي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮מידבק, מדביק, מנגע‬

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