Reinfected

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To become affected by the same infectious agent again after initially clearing it from the body
2. To undergo another instance of infection by the same pathogen after recovering from a previous infection
3. To catch the same infectious disease once more after previously having cleared it from the body

Etymology: The past tense "reinfected" is simply the past form of "reinfect," which is built from "re-" meaning "again" and "infect." The base verb "infect" comes from Latin "inficere," literally "to put into" or "to dip, stain," formed from "in-" and "facere" ("to make, do"). The sense of infecting someone with disease grew out of that original idea of putting something harmful into a body. The prefix does the work here. "Re-" entered English from Latin "re-" and came through Old French, where it carried the sense of repetition, so "reinfect" means to infect a second time. Its reading is transparent: a person who "reinfected" has caught the same illness after recovering or being treated.

Synonyms: contaminated, infected, polluted

Antonyms: cured, healed