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foetid

[fet-id, fee-tid]
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adjective
  1. fetid.
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fetid

or foet·id

[fet-id, fee-tid]
adjective
  1. having an offensive odor; stinking.
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Origin of fetid

1590–1600; < Latin fētidus, equivalent to fēt- (stem of fētēre to stink) + -idus -id4
Related formsfet·id·ly, adverbfet·id·ness, fe·tid·i·ty, noun

Synonyms

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malodorous, smelly, noisome.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for foetid

Historical Examples

  • It is like coming out of a foetid cave into the evening sunshine.

    Deerbrook

    Harriet Martineau

  • Smell not so foetid as in type; s. yellowish and mottled inside.

  • Their clothes and their letters reek with the foetid secretion of the musk deer.

    I Say No

    Wilkie Collins

  • If we fail, then death is preferable to life in this foetid pit, chained up and treated like dogs.

    Sea-Dogs All!

    Tom Bevan

  • Orifice of coxal gland situated just behind that of the foetid gland.

British Dictionary definitions for foetid

foetid

adjective
  1. a variant spelling of fetid
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Derived Formsfoetidly, adverbfoetidness, noun

fetid

foetid

adjective
  1. having a stale nauseating smell, as of decay
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Derived Formsfetidly or foetidly, adverbfetidness or foetidness, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Latin fētidus, from fētēre to stink; related to fūmus smoke
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for foetid

adj.

see fetid; for spelling, see oe.

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fetid

adj.

early 15c., from Latin fetidus (commonly, but incorrectly, foetidus) "stinking," from fetere "have a bad smell, stink." Perhaps connected with fimus "dung," or with fumus "smoke."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
foetid in Medicine

fetid

(fĕt′ĭd, fē′tĭd)
adj.
  1. Having an offensive odor.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.