putrefy en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈpjutɹəfaɪ/
Etymology
From Middle French putréfier.
Meanings
- To fester or rot and exude a fetid stench.
- To become filled with a pus-like or bile-like substance.
-
To reach an advanced stage of decomposition.
In the Middle Ages, for instance, a recipe for sex stimulation required the putrefied flesh of a human corpse, together with both human and animal testes and ovaries, pimento, and alcohol.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 14:
- To become gangrenous.
-
To make morbid, carious, or gangrenous.
to putrefy an ulcer or wound
-
To corrupt; to make foul.
Private suits do putrefy the public good.
1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Suitors”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:They would but stink, and putrefy the air.
c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| putrefies | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| putrefied | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| putrefied | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| putrefying | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| putrify | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
putrefiable · putrefier · unputrefied
Synonyms
Translations (20)
ta அழுகு (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition) · mi māī (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition) · uk згнивати (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition) · uk гноїтися (become filled with a pus-like or bile-like substance) · uk тухнути (to fester or rot and exude a fetid stench) · uk загноїтися (become filled with a pus-like or bile-like substance) · mi whakaero (become filled with a pus-like or bile-like substance) · uk загноюватися (become filled with a pus-like or bile-like substance) · bg гангренясвам (to become gangrenous) · ga morg (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition) · bg гния (become filled with a pus-like or bile-like substance) · mi whakaero (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition) · haw hoʻohāpopopo (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition) · mi whakapirau (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition) · mi māhī (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition) · uk згнити (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition) · uk протухнути (to fester or rot and exude a fetid stench) · uk гнити (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition) · uk протухати (to fester or rot and exude a fetid stench) · bg разлагам се (to reach an advanced stage of decomposition)