noun (n)

• a process in which an agent causes an organic substance to break down into simpler substances; especially, the anaerobic breakdown of sugar into alcohol(noun.process)

  Synonym:
  ferment, fermentation, fermenting, zymolysis
  

  source: wordnet30
• (medicine) the development and spread of an infectious disease (especially one caused by a fungus)(noun.process)

  source: wordnet30
• A fermentation; hence, an analogous process by which an infectious disease is believed to be developed.(noun)

  source: webster1913