fomite

Back-formation from plural, from Latin fōmitēs.

fomite (plural fomites)

1. (medicine, epidemiology) An inanimate object capable of carrying infectious agents (such as bacteria, viruses and parasites), and thus passively enabling their transmission between hosts.
   • 2009, Raina M. Maier, Ian L. Pepper, Charles P. Gerba, Environmental Microbiology, page 559,

     Alternatively, such fluids may be transferred from soiled hands to fomites, or airborne organisms may impinge or settle onto fomite surfaces. Fomites may also serve as a site for the replication of a pathogen, as in the case of enteric bacteria in household sponges or dishcloths.

fomite m (plural fomiti)

1. incitement
2. cause, source

fōmite

1. ablative singular of fōmes