contracting
noun
Contracting — the clinical term for becoming infected with a disease
Definition
Becoming infected; "catching cold is sometimes unavoidable"; "the contracting of a serious illness can be financially catastrophic"
In depth
Contracting, in this medical sense, names becoming infected, the more formal and clinical counterpart to the everyday 'catching.' The word is standard in medical and scientific writing describing the process by which a person acquires an illness, carrying precision and gravity appropriate to clinical discussion.
Origin
The word descends from Latin contrahere, to draw together, formed from con- (together) and trahere (to draw). Its medical sense, drawing a disease into oneself, extends from the same root that gives English the unrelated business sense of 'contract,' both ultimately concerned with a kind of drawing together or binding, whether of agreement or, less happily, of illness.
Usage examples
"The contracting of a serious illness during travel abroad prompted new guidance on recommended vaccinations."
"Medical researchers studied the precise conditions under which contracting the virus became most likely."
"Her contracting of the disease, despite every reasonable precaution, illustrated just how easily it could spread."
How to use it
Contracting is the standard, formal term in medical, scientific, and public health writing for becoming infected, useful wherever clinical precision matters more than the casual register of 'catching.'
Related concepts
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