Advertisement

Origin and history of putrefy

putrefy(v.)

late 14c., putrefien, "to decompose, rot, decay with a fetid smell," from Old French putréfier and directly from Latin putrefacere "to make rotten," from putrere "to stink" (see putrid) + facere "to make, do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Transitive sense of "cause to decompose or rot" is from early 15c. Related: Putrefied; putrefying.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to putrefy

putrid(adj.)

late 14c., "festering gangrenous, in a state of decay," from Old French putride and directly from Latin putridus, from putrere "to rot," from putris "rotten, crumbling," related to putere "to stink," from PIE root *pu- (2) "to rot, stink" (see pus). First in reference to putrid fever, an old name for typhus (also known in Middle English as putrida), which supposedly was caused by putrefaction of bodily humors. Related: Putridness.

*dhe-

*dhē-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to set, put."

It might form all or part of: abdomen; abscond; add; affair; affect (v.1) "make a mental impression on;" affect (v.2) "make a pretense of;" affection; amplify; anathema; antithesis; apothecary; artifact; artifice; beatific; benefice; beneficence; beneficial; benefit; betray; bibliothec; bodega; boutique; certify; chafe; chauffeur; comfit; condiment; confection; confetti; counterfeit; deed; deem; deface; defeasance; defeat; defect; deficient; difficulty; dignify; discomfit; do (v.); doom; -dom; duma; edifice; edify; efface; effect; efficacious; efficient; epithet; facade; face; facet; facial; -facient; facile; facilitate; facsimile; fact; faction (n.1) "political party;" -faction; factitious; factitive; factor; factory; factotum; faculty; fashion; feasible; feat; feature; feckless; fetish; -fic; fordo; forfeit; -fy; gratify; hacienda; hypothecate; hypothesis; incondite; indeed; infect; justify; malefactor; malfeasance; manufacture; metathesis; misfeasance; modify; mollify; multifarious; notify; nullify; office; officinal; omnifarious; orifice; parenthesis; perfect; petrify; pluperfect; pontifex; prefect; prima facie; proficient; profit; prosthesis; prothesis; purdah; putrefy; qualify; rarefy; recondite; rectify; refectory; sacrifice; salmagundi; samadhi; satisfy; sconce; suffice; sufficient; surface; surfeit; synthesis; tay; ticking (n.); theco-; thematic; theme; thesis; tradition; traitor; verify.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit dadhati "puts, places;" Avestan dadaiti "he puts;" Old Persian ada "he made;" Hittite dai- "to place;" Greek tithenai "to put, set, place;" Latin facere "to make, do; perform; bring about;" Lithuanian dėti "to put;" Polish dziać się "to be happening;" Russian delat' "to do;" Old High German tuon, German tun, Old English don "to do."

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    rot
    Middle English roten, from Old English rotian, of animal substances, "to decay, putrefy, undergo natural decomposition" (...
    melt
    Also in Middle English "dissolve" (of salt, sugar, etc.), "corrode" (of iron), "putrefy" (of flesh)....
    bad
    To go bad "putrefy" is from 1884. Not bad "fairly good" is by 1771....
    decay
    late 15c., "to decrease," also "to decline, deteriorate, lose strength or excellence," from Anglo-French decair, Old North French decair (Old French decheoir, 12c., Modern French déchoir) "to fall, set (of the sun), weaken, decline, decay," from Vulgar Latin *decadere "to fall of
    prosperous
    early 15c., "favorable, auspicious, tending to bring success;" late 15c., "flourishing, successful, making good progress in anything good or desirable;" from Anglo-French prosperous, prospereus, Anglo-Latin prosperosus, or directly from Old French prospereus (15c.), from prospere
    war
    late Old English wyrre, werre "large-scale military conflict," from Old North French werre "war" (Old French guerre "difficulty, dispute; hostility; fight, combat, war;" Modern French guerre), from Frankish *werra, from Proto-Germanic *werz-a- (source also of Old Saxon werran, Ol
    pandemonium
    1667, Pandæmonium, in "Paradise Lost" the name of the palace built in the middle of Hell, "the high capital of Satan and all his peers," and the abode of all the demons; coined by John Milton (1608-1674) from Greek pan- "all" (see pan-) + Late Latin daemonium "evil spirit," from
    stamina
    1670s, "rudiments or original elements of something," from Latin stamina "threads," plural of stamen (genitive staminis) "thread, warp" (see stamen). The sense of "power to resist or recover, strength, endurance" is attested by 1726 (originally plural), from the earlier meaning "
    grim
    Old English grimm "fierce, cruel, savage; severe, dire, painful," from Proto-Germanic *grimma- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German, German grimm "grim, angry, fierce," Old Norse grimmr "stern, horrible, dire," Swedish grym "fierce, furious"), from PIE *ghremno
    speed
    Middle English spede, from Old English sped "success, a successful course; prosperity, riches, wealth; luck, good fortune; opportunity, advancement," from Proto-Germanic *spodiz (source also of Old Saxon spod "success," Dutch spoed "haste, speed," Old High German spuot "success,"

    Share putrefy

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near putrefy
    Advertisement