contagium

UK/kən'teidʒiəm/US/kәn'teidʒiәm/

Definitions

The agent or matter that transmits a contagious disease

接触传染物；病原体

Root Breakdown

Root-derived

con-together, with

tagtouch

-iumsuffix

=contagium

con- (together) + tag (a worn form of 'touch') + -ium. The Latinate noun for the thing that passes disease by contact — what we now usually call a pathogen.

Root tact still carries 52 more words

Example Sentences

1.
Early physicians blamed a mysterious contagium for the plague.
2.
The term contagium predates the modern theory of germs.

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