-fect

DEFINITION of -fect

Make;  -fect is a bound Latin root meaning “to make, to do, or to act upon.” It does not stand alone as a word; it only appears when a prefix is attached (e.g., in-fect, de-fect, ef-fect). In medical terminology it conveys the idea of something being acted upon, produced, or caused — most critically seen in infect (to “make inroads into” a host) and defect (something “made” incompletely or wrongly).

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ETYMOLOGY of -fect

latin facere, factus; Latin root family: fac- / fact- / -fect- / -fic- — all mean “do, make”

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RELATED TERMS to -fect

| -fect | make | - | |:---------:|:----:|:-------:| | fac- | YES | - | | -fic- | YES | - | | poie- | YES | produce |

infect in- (into) + fect (make) To introduce pathogenic organisms into a host

infection in- + fect + -ion (state of) The state of being invaded by a pathogen ​ infectious in- + fect + -ious Capable of transmitting disease infective in- + fect + -ive Having the quality of causing infection ​ defect de- (down/away) + fect A structural or functional imperfection; e.g., septal defect ​ defective de- + fect + -ive Functioning below normal standard ​ effect ex- (out) + fect The result produced by an action; the “made” outcome ​ effective ex- + fect + -ive Able to produce the desired result ​ affect ad- (toward) + fect To act upon or influence (a tissue, organ, emotion) ​ transfection trans- (across) + fect + -ion Deliberate introduction of nucleic acids into a eukaryotic cell ​ reinfect re- (again) + infect To infect again after recovery ​ disaffect dis- + af- + fect To make unfavorable; loss of function allegiance ​ perfect per- (thoroughly) + fect “Thoroughly made”; complete ​ prefect prae- (before) + fect One “made” to rule before others ​ refection re- (again) + fect + -ion Restoration; refreshment — root of refectory

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Related Terms & See Also

• fac- — unshifted form of same root (facile, facade)

• fact- — past participial standalone form (factor, artifact)

• -fic- — adjectival/verbal variant (efficient, deficient, prolific)

• o — combining form used in medical terminology (infect/o = tainted)​

• -ion — suffix “state or condition of” (infection, affection)

• -ive — suffix “pertaining to, having the quality of” (infective, effective)

• -ious — suffix “pertaining to, full of” (infectious)

• in- — Latin prefix “into, within” (key partner prefix)

• de- — Latin prefix “down, away, from” (defect, deficient)

• trans- — Latin prefix “across” (transfection)

• o — disease​

• o — partition/dividing wall (as in septal defect)

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DERIVATIONS of -fect

TABLE definition AS Definition
FROM #medroot
WHERE length(filter(roots, (word) => econtains([[]].roots, word))) > 0 AND file.name != [[]].file.name
SORT file.name ASC

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Query functionality

TABLE definition AS Definition
FROM #medroot
WHERE length(filter(definition, (word) => econtains([[]].definition, word))) > 0 AND file.name != [[]].file.name

Med roots dictionary Appendix A Prefixes Appendix B Combining Forms Appendix C Suffixes Appendix D Suffix forms