fomite

Meaning

Noun

• An inanimate object capable of carrying infectious agents (such as bacteria, viruses and parasites), and thus passively enabling their transmission between hosts; common examples include towels, dishcloths, kitchenware/flatware, and laundry.

Related

Similar words

• fomes

Origin

• A back-formation from fomites, plural of fomes, a borrowing of medical Latin fōmes ("tinder, kindling"), used figuratively to evoke the analogy of a spreading infection to a spreading fire.