communicable

/kə'mju:nikəbl/

Thân thiện

A doctor explains how communicable diseases spread to a group of attentive students.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Capable of being transmitted or passed on: Refers to something, especially a disease, that can be transferred from one person, organism, or thing to another.
   • Readily communicated or shared: Refers to ideas, information, or feelings that can be easily conveyed or made known to others.

Usage and Examples

• Describing a disease:
  • Measles is a highly communicable disease. (The disease can spread easily from person to person.)
  • The health department monitors communicable illnesses. (They track illnesses that can be transmitted.)
• Describing ideas or information:
  • Her enthusiasm was communicable and soon everyone was excited. (Her excitement could be easily passed on to others.)
  • The concept was simple and communicable to a general audience. (The idea could be readily shared and understood.)

Advanced Usage

• "Communicable period": The time during which an infected person can transmit a disease to others.
  • Patients are isolated during the communicable period of the virus.
• In a broader, non-medical sense: Can describe emotions or traits that spread easily.
  • A communicable sense of panic swept through the crowd.

Variants and Related Words

• Communicate (verb): To share or exchange information or to transmit.
• Communication (noun): The act of communicating; the exchange of information.
• Communicability (noun): The quality of being communicable.
• Noncommunicable (adj): Not capable of being transmitted, especially used for diseases like heart disease or diabetes.

Synonyms

• Contagious (esp. for diseases spread by direct contact)
• Infectious (esp. for diseases caused by pathogens)
• Transmissible
• Catching (informal)
• Transferable

Antonyms

• Noncommunicable
• Noncontagious
• Noninfectious

Related Phrases and Terms

• Communicable disease: A specific term for an illness caused by an infectious agent that can be spread directly or indirectly.
  • Public health efforts focus on controlling communicable diseases.
• Chain of communication: The path through which information or infection travels.
  • Breaking the chain of communication is vital to stop rumors. (For information) / Breaking the chain of infection is vital. (For disease)

Học thuật

Adjective

1. readily communicated
   • communicable ideas
2. (of disease) capable of being transmitted by infection

Từ đồng nghĩa

• catching
• contagious
• contractable
• transmissible
• transmittable