Contagiosum

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A viral infection characterized by the appearance of raised, dome-shaped lesions on the skin
2. A skin disease caused by a poxvirus, resulting in small bumps that are usually painless
3. An infectious condition often seen in children, marked by wart-like growths that can spread through skin-to-skin contact

Etymology: Its root is a plain physical verb. Latin "tangere" meant "to touch", and "contagium" was a touching or contact, formed with the prefix "com-" ("together"). Infection was understood as something passed on by contact, so "contagiosus" meant that which spreads this way. English "contagious" comes from the same Latin base. The neuter form "contagiosum" survives mainly in Latin medical phrases, where it agrees with a neuter noun. The best-known example is "molluscum contagiosum", a viral skin infection. The name is a plain Latin description of how the condition spreads.

Synonyms: contagious, infectious, communicable, transmissible, catching

Antonyms: noncontagious, noninfectious, noncommunicable, nontransmissible, harmless