<B>infamous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>so bad as to deserve public disgrace; shamefully bad; very wicked. <BR> <I>Ex. Benedict Arnold's treason was an infamous betrayal of his country.</I> (SYN) disgraceful, scandalous, odious. <DD><B> 2. </B>having a very bad reputation; in public disgrace. <BR> <I>Ex. A traitor's name is infamous.</I> (SYN) notorious, disreputable. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Law.) <DD><B> a. </B>having lost some or all of the rights of citizenship because of conviction for certain crimes. <DD><B> b. </B>(of a crime or punishment) entailing such a loss. adv. <B>infamously.</B> noun <B>infamousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="infamy">
<B>infamy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a very bad reputation; public disgrace. <BR> <I>Ex. Traitors are held in infamy.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>shameful badness; extreme wickedness. <BR> <I>Ex. to reveal the infamy of a proceeding.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>an infamous or disgraceful act. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Law.) the loss of honor and all or certain rights of citizenship incurred on conviction of any of certain crimes. </DL>
<A NAME="infancy">
<B>infancy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the condition or time of being an infant; early childhood; babyhood. <BR> <I>Ex. The transition line between infancy and childhood is an arbitrary one (Beals and Hoijer).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. Space travel is still in its infancy. Latin America's long infancy in the capitalistic pattern ... must soon come to an end (Marion A. Czerniecki).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the condition of being under the legal age of responsibility (in common law, under 21; in certain states, under 18); minority. </DL>
<A NAME="infant">
<B>infant, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a very young child, usually from birth to ten months; baby. <BR> <I>Ex. The infant turned out to be a male and was christened Samuel Ellis (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a beginner. <DD><B> 3. </B>a person under the legal age of responsibility; minor. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Archaic.) a youth of noble or gentle birth. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or for an infant or infants. <BR> <I>Ex. infant food, infant baptism, an infant dress.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. an infant industry. We are still in our infant years and we still need halters (Time).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>that is an infant or like an infant. <BR> <I>Ex. an infant king.</I> (SYN) childlike, childish, infantile. <DD><B> 4. </B>of or having to do with legal infancy or minority. </DL>
<A NAME="infanta">
<B>infanta, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a royal princess of Spain or Portugal. <DD><B> 2. </B>the wife of an infante. </DL>
<A NAME="infante">
<B>infante, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a royal prince of Spain or Portugal but not the heir to the throne. </DL>
<A NAME="infanthood">
<B>infanthood, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> infancy or babyhood. </DL>
<A NAME="infanticidal">
<B>infanticidal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with infanticide. </DL>
<A NAME="infanticide">
<B>infanticide</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the killing of a baby. </DL>
<A NAME="infanticide">
<B>infanticide</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who kills a baby. </DL>
<A NAME="infantile">
<B>infantile, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of an infant or infants; having to do with infants. <BR> <I>Ex. Measles and chicken pox are infantile diseases.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>like an infant; babyish; childish. <BR> <I>Ex. His father was annoyed at his infantile behavior.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>(Figurative.) in an early stage; just beginning to develop. <DD><B> b. </B>(of physical geographical features) in an early stage of development. </DL>
<A NAME="infantileparalysis">
<B>infantile paralysis,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an acute infectious disease that destroys nervous tissue in the brain and spinal cord, causing fever, paralysis of various muscles, and sometimes death; poliomyelitis; polio. It is caused by a virus and attacks children especially, often leaving them crippled. </DL>
<A NAME="infantilescurvy">
<B>infantile scurvy,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a disease of childhood, caused by improper diet, characterized by progressive anemia, mental apathy, spongy gums, and other symptoms of scurvy; Barlow's disease. </DL>
<B>infantilism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an abnormal persistence or appearance of childish traits in adults, often characterized by mental retardation and physical underdevelopment, especially of the sexual organs. <DD><B> 2. </B>the retention by an adult of characteristics of articulation and intonation normally found only in the speech of young children. <BR> <I>Ex. I persisted in asking to be taught adult French, and did get fewer infantilisms (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="infantility">
<B>infantility, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> infantile quality or condition. </DL>
<A NAME="infantilize">
<B>infantilize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-lized,</B> <B>-lizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to treat as an infant; make childish. <BR> <I>Ex. The boy has been made to feel infantilized if he is short and can't play basketball (Science News). The present system teaches in a highly structured, infantilizing setting which seems to devalue the need for the student making critical judgment (Donald Weston and Michael McGarvey).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="infantine">
<B>infantine, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> infantile; babyish; childish. <BR> <I>Ex. an infantine flow of tears.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="infantry">
<B>infantry, </B>noun, pl. <B>-tries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>soldiers trained, equipped, and organized to fight on foot. Infantry commonly carry small arms, now especially rifles. <DD><B> 2. </B>a branch of an army consisting of such troops. (Abbr:) Inf. </DL>
<A NAME="infantryman">
<B>infantryman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a soldier who fights on foot; foot soldier. <BR> <I>Ex. Confronted by a full-scale attack, the infantrymen withdrew.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="infant">
<B>infant</B> or <B>infants' school,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a school for young children, usually under seven years of age. </DL>
<A NAME="infarct">
<B>infarct, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a portion of dying tissue, caused by obstruction of the blood supply, as by an embolus or thrombus. <DD><B> 2. </B>the matter that fills such tissue. </DL>
<A NAME="infarctectomy">
<B>infarctectomy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the surgical removal of an infarct. </DL>
<A NAME="infarcted">
<B>infarcted, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> characterized by or showing infarction. </DL>
<A NAME="infarction">
<B>infarction, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the formation of an infarct. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=infarct.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="infare">
<B>infare, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish and U.S. Dialect.) a housewarming, especially upon the entrance of a bride into her new home. </DL>
<A NAME="infatuate">
<B>infatuate, </B>verb, <B>-ated,</B> <B>-ating,</B> adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to inspire with a foolish, extreme, or unreasoning passion. <BR> <I>Ex. to be infatuated by a woman. Some to the fashion of a name Surrender judgment, hood-wink'd. Some the style [of a book] infatuates (William Cowper).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to make foolish. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>=infatuated.</B> <DD><I>noun </I> an infatuated person. <BR> <I>Ex. Incensed by infatuates with facism, ... she [Dame Rebecca West] eventually agreed to write ... a series of papers (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="infatuated">
<B>infatuated, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having an exaggerated fondness or passion; foolishly in love; adoring. </DL>
<A NAME="infatuation">
<B>infatuation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>exaggerated fondness or passion; foolish love. <DD><B> 2. </B>the action of infatuating. <DD><B> 3. </B>the state of being infatuated. </DL>
<A NAME="infauna">
<B>infauna, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nas,</B> <B>-nae.</B> <B>=epifauna.</B></DL>
<B>infeasible, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> not feasible; impracticable. </DL>
<A NAME="infect">
<B>infect, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to cause disease or an unhealthy condition in by introducing germs, such as bacteria or a virus. <BR> <I>Ex. Dirt infects an open cut. Anyone with a bad cold may infect the people around him.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to influence in a bad way. <BR> <I>Ex. One bad boy may infect a whole class.</I> (SYN) pollute, contaminate, deprave. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to influence by spreading from one to another. <BR> <I>Ex. The captain's courage infected his soldiers. Her enthusiasm infected everyone who worked with her. As the strike fever spread, even stockbrokers were infected and staged a walkout (Newsweek).</I> (SYN) imbue, permeate. <DD><B> 4. </B>to fill with something that affects quality, character, or condition, especially unfavorably. <BR> <I>Ex. to infect the air with noisome gases.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Law.) to taint with illegality; make liable to seizure, forfeiture, etc. <DD><B> 6. </B>a computer virus into (a computer operating system or program). <BR> <I>Ex. Whenever the infected computer comes in contact with an uninfected piece of software, a fresh copy of the virus passes into the new program (Time).</I> </DL>
