See fomes in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "fōmes",
"t": "fomite"
},
"expansion": "Latin fōmes (“fomite”)",
"name": "bor"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From medical Latin fōmes (“fomite”), a figurative extension of its original sense of kindling, tinder, etc. Gradually supplanted in use by fomite, a mistaken backformation of its plural form fomites, from Latin fōmitēs.",
"forms": [
{
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"tags": [
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]
}
],
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"1": "fomites"
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"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
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"name": "Medicine",
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"parents": [],
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},
{
"_dis": "38 31 31",
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{
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"ref": "1773, Gentleman's Magazine, number 43, page 554:",
"text": "If this putrid ferment could be more immediately corrected, a stop would probably be put to the flux, and the fomes of the disease likewise removed.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Morbid matter created by a disease."
],
"id": "en-fomes-en-noun-2Ih5pr3S",
"links": [
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"medicine",
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],
[
"Morbid",
"morbid"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(obsolete, medicine) Morbid matter created by a disease."
],
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]
},
{
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"text": "Toys are common fomites.",
"type": "example"
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{
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46,
53
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],
"ref": "1803, Medical & Physical Journal, number 10, page 213:",
"text": "I cannot say that I have known it spread from fomites.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Synonym of fomite: a substance able to communicate infection between people."
],
"id": "en-fomes-en-noun-blOAEbr5",
"links": [
[
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],
[
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(archaic, medicine) Synonym of fomite: a substance able to communicate infection between people."
],
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{
"extra": "a substance able to communicate infection between people",
"tags": [
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"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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34,
39
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],
"ref": "1658, John Owen, Of Temptation, page 126:",
"text": "Naturall tempers... prove a great Fomes of sinne.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Anything which similarly facilitates the spread of something similarly deleterious."
],
"id": "en-fomes-en-noun-3MQRXRwd",
"links": [
[
"deleterious",
"deleterious"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(archaic, figurative) Anything which similarly facilitates the spread of something similarly deleterious."
],
"tags": [
"archaic",
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]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈfəʊmiːz/",
"tags": [
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]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈfoʊ.miːz/",
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}
],
"word": "fomes"
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{
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}
],
"etymology_text": "From medical Latin fōmes (“fomite”), a figurative extension of its original sense of kindling, tinder, etc. Gradually supplanted in use by fomite, a mistaken backformation of its plural form fomites, from Latin fōmitēs.",
"forms": [
{
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}
],
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{
"args": {
"1": "fomites"
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"examples": [
{
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"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Morbid matter created by a disease."
],
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],
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"(obsolete, medicine) Morbid matter created by a disease."
],
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{
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16,
23
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},
{
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[
46,
53
]
],
"ref": "1803, Medical & Physical Journal, number 10, page 213:",
"text": "I cannot say that I have known it spread from fomites.",
"type": "quotation"
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],
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"Synonym of fomite: a substance able to communicate infection between people."
],
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[
"medicine",
"medicine"
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"fomite",
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]
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"raw_glosses": [
"(archaic, medicine) Synonym of fomite: a substance able to communicate infection between people."
],
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{
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"tags": [
"synonym",
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],
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}
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],
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{
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34,
39
]
],
"ref": "1658, John Owen, Of Temptation, page 126:",
"text": "Naturall tempers... prove a great Fomes of sinne.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Anything which similarly facilitates the spread of something similarly deleterious."
],
"links": [
[
"deleterious",
"deleterious"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(archaic, figurative) Anything which similarly facilitates the spread of something similarly deleterious."
],
"tags": [
"archaic",
"figuratively"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈfəʊmiːz/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈfoʊ.miːz/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
}
],
"word": "fomes"
}
Download raw JSONL data for fomes meaning in English (3.1kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-06-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-06-01 using wiktextract (e79dea5 and 7f4db16). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.