putrefy

English

Alternative forms

putrify

Etymology

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpjutɹəfaɪ/
Audio (US): (file)

Verb

putrefy (third-person singular simple present putrefies, present participle putrefying, simple past and past participle putrefied)

To become filled with a pus-like or bile-like substance.
To reach an advanced stage of decomposition.
To become gangrenous.
To make morbid, carious, or gangrenous.
to putrefy an ulcer or wound
To corrupt; to make foul.
- 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Suitors”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
  Private suits do putrefy the public good.
- 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]:
  They would but stink, and putrefy the air.

Synonyms

Translations

become filled with a pus-like or bile-like substance

Bulgarian: гния (bg) (gnija)
Maori: whakaero

to reach an advanced stage of decomposition

Bulgarian: разлагам се (razlagam se)
Hawaiian: hoʻohāpopopo
Irish: morg
Maori: whakaero, māhī, māī, whakapirau

to become gangrenous

Bulgarian: гангренясвам (gangrenjasvam)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Spanish: pudrirse (es)