- [uncountable]
the spread of a disease by close contact between people 接触传染 - [countable] (old use)
a disease that can be spread by close contact between people 接触性传染病 - [uncountable, countable] (formal)
something bad that spreads quickly by being passed from person to person （不良事物的快速）传播，蔓延，扩散 the contagion of political extremism 政治极端主义的蔓延
compare infection
Word Originlate Middle English (denoting a contagious disease): from Latin contagio(n-), from con- ‘together with’ + the base of tangere ‘to touch’.