impostume

imposthume (ɪmˈpɒsθuːm)

/ (ɪmˈpɒstjuːm) /

noun

an archaic word for abscess

Nearby words

impossible figure, impost, impost block, impostor, impostor syndrome, impostume, imposture, imposure, impotence, impotent, impound

Word Origin for impostume

C15: from Old French empostume, from Late Latin apostēma, from Greek, literally: separation (of pus), from aphistanai to remove, from histanai to stand

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

Examples from the Web for impostume

Hence Catullus resentment against Nonius, whom he calls the botch, or impostume of the State.
Chaucer's Translation of Boethius's 'De Consolatione Philosophiae'|Geoffrey Chaucer
What difference is there between a Tumour and an Impostume or Abcess?
The Compleat Surgeon, or the Whole Art of Surgery Explain'd in a Most Familiar Method|Charles Gabriel Le Clerc
July 31, 1677, I sold my bokes to Mr. Littlebury, scilicet when my impostume in my heade did breake.
Brief Lives (Vol. 1 of 2)|John Aubrey