infettate

Infettate is a term in Italian that can function as two different grammatical forms of the verb infettare, which means to infect or contaminate. In most everyday uses, it appears as the present-tense form for the second-person plural (voi infettate). It can also be the feminine plural past participle infettato used as an adjective or in compound tenses, where it agrees with a feminine plural noun, such as ferite infettate.

As a present-tense form, infettate occurs in sentences addressing a group: "Voi infettate i tessuti se esponete le ferite a un patogeno." In this role it expresses an action carried out by “you all.” The imperative mood also yields infettate in the second-person plural, effectively giving a directive to a group. In contexts where the word functions as a past participle, infettate means “infected” when describing feminine plural nouns, for example: "Le ferite infettate sono state curate" (The infected wounds have been treated).

Etymology traces infettare to Latin infectare, from infectus, meaning tainted or contaminated. The term is widely used in medicine, biology, and agriculture to denote the transfer or presence of infection by a pathogen, virus, or other agent. Related Italian terms include infetto (infected, adjective or noun), infezione (infection), and infettamento (infectious process or process of infection).

Notes on usage: infettate can be confused with its homographic forms, since the same spelling corresponds to different grammatical functions depending on context (present-tense you plural versus feminine plural past participle). Context and agreement with surrounding nouns clarify the meaning.

See also: infetto, infezione, infettamento, infettare.