fomes
Meanings
noun
- The morbid matter created by a disease.
- Synonym of fomite: a substance able to communicate infection between people.
- Anything which similarly facilitates the spread of something similarly deleterious.
Pronunciation
Word forms
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.
Synonyms
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