fomes
UK /ˈfəʊmiːz/ · US /ˈfoʊ.miːz/ noun
Forms fomites
- noun (obsolete, medicine) Morbid matter created by a disease.
- noun (archaic, medicine) Synonym of fomite: a substance able to communicate infection between people. “Toys are common fomites.”
- noun (archaic, figurative) Anything which similarly facilitates the spread of something similarly deleterious.
Synonyms
Etymology
From medical Latin fōmes (“fomite”), a figurative extension of its original sense of kindling, tinder, etc. Gradually supplanted in use by fomite, a mistaken backformation of its plural form fomites, from Latin fōmitēs.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any substance supposed to be capable of absorbing, retaining, and transporting contagious or infectious germs; as, woolen clothes are said to be active fomites.
Etymology [L. fomes, -itis, touch-wood, tinder.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fomes”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details