contamination

contamination
1. The presence of an infectious agent on a body surface; also on or in clothes, bedding, toys, surgical instruments or dressings, or other inanimate articles or substances including water, milk, and food or that infectious agent itself. 2. In epidemiology, the situation that exists when a population being studied for one condition or factor also possesses other conditions or factors that modify results of the study. 3. Freudian term for a fusion and condensation of meanings of words, percepts, or motivations for behavior. 4. The presence of foreign material that adulterates or renders impure a material whose composition is degraded. [L. contamino, pp. -atus, to stain, defile]

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con·tam·i·na·tion kən-.tam-ə-'nā-shən n
1) a process of contaminating: a state of being contaminated
2) something that contaminates

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con·tam·i·na·tion (kən-tam″ĭ-naґshən) [L. contaminatio, from con together + tangere to touch] 1. the presence of any substance or organism that makes a preparation impure. 2. the soiling or pollution by inferior material, as by the introduction of organisms into a wound, or sewage into a stream. 3. the deposition of radioactive material where it is not desired, particularly where its presence may be harmful or constitute a radiation hazard.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • contamination — [ kɔ̃taminasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • mil. XIVe; lat. contaminatio 1 ♦ Vx Souillure résultant d un contact impur. 2 ♦ Envahissement (d un objet, d un milieu, d un organisme vivant) par des micro organismes pathogènes (⇒ contage, contagion), ou par des… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • contamination — CONTAMINATION. s. f. Souillure. Contamination légale. Suivant la Loi de Moïse, il y avoit plusieurs sortes de contaminations. Il est vieux …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • Contamination — Con*tam i*na tion (k[o^]n*t[a^]m [i^]*n[=a] sh[u^]n), n. [L. contaminatio.] The act or process of contaminating; pollution; defilement; taint; also, that which contaminates. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Contamination — (v. lat.), Befleckung …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Contamination — Contamination, lat., Besudelung, Befleckung …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • contamination — I noun adulteration, corruption, debauchment, decay, defilement, degradation, despoilment, impureness, impurity, infection, pollution, vitiation II index air pollution, defilement, detriment, perversion …   Law dictionary

  • contamination — (n.) early 15c., from L. contaminationem (nom. contaminatio), noun of action from pp. stem of contaminare (see CONTAMINATE (Cf. contaminate)). Figurative sense is from c.1620; specifically of radioactivity from 1913 …   Etymology dictionary

  • contamination — [n] adulteration contagion, corruption, decay, defilement, dirtying, disease, epidemic, filth, foulness, impurity, infection, pestilence, plague, poisoning, pollution, radioactivation, rottenness, spoliation, taint; concepts 230,306,674 Ant.… …   New thesaurus

  • contamination — Contamination. s. f. v. Soüilleure. Il ne se dit que de soüilleures de la loy de Moyse …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • contamination — [kən tam΄ə nā′shən] n. [ME contaminacioun < L contaminatio] 1. a contaminating or being contaminated 2. something that contaminates …   English World dictionary

  • Contamination — For other uses, see Contamination (disambiguation). Contamination is the presence of a minor and unwanted constituent (contaminant) in material, physical body, natural environment, at a workplace, etc. Specifics Contamination also has more… …   Wikipedia

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