Definition of "contagion" []

• Disease transmission by direct or indirect contact. (noun)
• A disease that is or may be transmitted by direct or indirect contact; a contagious disease. (noun)
• The direct cause, such as a bacterium or virus, of a communicable disease. (noun)
• Psychology The spread of a behavior pattern, attitude, or emotion from person to person or group to group through suggestion, propaganda, rumor, or imitation. (noun)
• A harmful, corrupting influence: feared that violence on television was a contagion affecting young viewers. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Also, the euro debt - again, we hear the term contagion - has the possibility of affecting everything economic, not just solar."
• "It's strange, the use of the word "contagion" with respect to financial markets."
• "In other words, their models did not have a built-in contagion or domino effect."