Disinfect

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /dɪs.ɪnˈfɛkt/

Definitions

1. To protect health by destroying microorganisms on surfaces or within the environment To purify an area by eliminating harmful bacteria and viruses using various agents To ensure safety by eradicating infectious agents from objects or spaces
2. To cleanse surfaces or objects to eliminate disease-causing microbes and reduce infection risk
3. To apply substances or methods that destroy pathogenic organisms on things or places

Etymology: The verb "disinfect" is a reversal of "infect": the prefix "dis-" undoes or removes the action of the base word. To infect something is to put a harmful agent into it, so to disinfect is to take that agent out again. The base word itself came into English from Latin "inficere," meaning to dip or stain, a sense that still shows in its older meanings of tinting or dyeing cloth. The English verb was formed by adding "dis-" to "infect," and its immediate source is the Middle French "desinfecter." Borrowing a French verb and attaching an English prefix to it reflects how English and French shared vocabulary in the medieval and early modern periods, when Middle French was a major channel for new verbs. The modern sense, destroying microorganisms on surfaces or in the air, grew out of the nineteenth-century understanding that diseases could spread through contact with contaminated objects and spaces. Earlier uses of the word referred more loosely to removing foul odours or harmful matter, and the focus narrowed as germ theory took hold.

Synonyms: sterilize, sanitize, cleanse, purify, decontaminate

Antonyms: infect, contaminate, pollute