contagion 的词源

在14世纪晚期，contagion这个词的意思是“传染病”或“有害的、腐蚀性的影响”。它源自古法语的contagion，直接借自拉丁语的contagionem（主格为contagio），原意是“接触”或“触碰”，通常带有贬义，指与某种身体上或道德上不洁的事物接触，从而引发的传染。这个词的构成来自contingere，意为“触碰”，由com（意为“与……一起”或“共同”）和tangere（意为“触碰”）结合而来，追溯到原始印欧语词根*tag-，意为“触碰”或“处理”。而“传染性接触或传播”的含义则出现在1620年代。

A distinction between contagion and infection is sometimes adopted, the former being limited to the transmission of disease by actual contact of the diseased part with a healthy absorbent or abraded surface, and the latter to transmission through the atmosphere by floating germs or miasmata. There are, however, cases of transmission which do not fall under either of these divisions, and there are some which fall under both. In common use no precise discrimination of the two words is attempted. [Century Dictionary, 1897]

有时人们会区分contagion和infection这两个词，前者指的是通过病变部位与健康的易吸收或受损表面直接接触而传播的疾病，而后者则是通过空气中漂浮的细菌或病气传播的。然而，也有一些传播方式既不属于这两种分类，也有一些同时符合两者。在日常使用中，人们并不严格区分这两个词。[《世纪词典》，1897年]