What does reinfect mean?
Reinfect means to infect again or to become infected again after an earlier infection. The word is used particularly in medicine, where it can describe a patient becoming infected with the same pathogen after recovering, and in computing, where it describes malicious software returning after an apparent cleanup. It is typically transitive when the person or thing being affected is stated, as in “reinfect a patient,” but it can also be used intransitively. The term often carries a sense of recurrence, although it does not necessarily imply that the second infection is identical or that the earlier one was treated incorrectly. In ordinary conversation, reinfect is less common than infect and is usually reserved for situations in which infection or contamination has previously been established.
verbTo infect again, especially a person, animal, or computer system that has previously recovered from or been cleared of an infection. It can also mean to become infected again after an earlier infection.
- To infect someone or something a second time after an earlier infection or contamination.
- To become infected again after having previously been infected.
"A small number of patients can reinfect themselves if the original infection has not been fully cleared."
"The virus may reinfect a person who has recovered but retained only partial immunity."
"After the backup was restored, engineers discovered that the malware had reinfected the server."
Reinfection shows that clearing an infection once does not always guarantee permanent immunity.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does reinfect come from?
Reinfect was formed in English by combining the prefix re-, meaning “again,” with infect. Infect comes through Old French infecter from Latin inficere, “to dip into, immerse, or poison,” originally referring to putting something into a harmful substance. Related English forms include infection and infectious; the modern sense of reinfect developed alongside the older sense of infection and its later technical uses in medicine and computing.
Related word forms
How reinfect is actually used
The word is especially common in medical and computing contexts. In medicine, it often refers to infection with the same organism after recovery or apparent cure; in computing, it often refers to malware returning after removal or incomplete cleanup.