putrefy

[pyoo-truh-fahy]

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verb (used with object), pu·tre·fied, pu·tre·fy·ing.

to render putrid; cause to rot or decay with an offensive odor.

verb (used without object), pu·tre·fied, pu·tre·fy·ing.

to become putrid; rot.
to become gangrenous.

Origin of putrefy

1350–1400; Middle English putrefien < Middle French putrefier < Vulgar Latin *putreficāre, for Latin putrefacere to make rotten

Related formspu·tre·fi·a·ble, adjectivepu·tre·fi·er, nounun·pu·tre·fi·a·ble, adjectiveun·pu·tre·fied, adjective

Synonyms for putrefy

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2. decompose, spoil.

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

Related Words for putrefy

stink, decay, disintegrate, taint, crumble, turn, molder, spoil, corrupt, decompose, deteriorate

Examples from the Web for putrefy

Historical Examples of putrefy

The corpse thus sheltered from contact with the air does not putrefy.
The Industries of Animals
Frdric Houssay
All the remainder was left to putrefy, or be devoured by wild beasts.
The Adventures of the Chevalier De La Salle and His Companions, in Their Explorations of the Prairies, Forests, Lakes, and Rivers, of the New World, and Their Interviews with the Savage Tribes, Two Hundred Years Ago
John S. C. Abbott
Stay either to putrefy with pleasure or to be embalmed in dulness?
The Journal of Arthur Stirling
Upton Sinclair
Wounds carefully protected from contact with impure air do not suppurate, and organic fluids do not putrefy.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I
Arnold Cooley
Thou makest the shells to swell, the wine to bubble, and the corpse to putrefy!
Salammbo
Gustave Flaubert

British Dictionary definitions for putrefy

putrefy

verb -fies, -fying or -fied

(of organic matter) to decompose or rot with an offensive smell

Derived Formsputrefaction (ˌpjuːtrɪˈfækʃən), nounputrefactive or putrefacient (ˌpjuːtrɪˈfeɪʃənt), adjectiveputrefiable, adjectiveputrefier, noun

Word Origin for putrefy

C15: from Old French putrefier + Latin putrefacere, from puter rotten + facere to make

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 putrefy

mid-15c., from Middle French putréfier, from Latin putrefacere "to make rotten," from putrere (see putrid) + facere (see factitious). Related: Putrefied; putrefying.

putrefy in Medicine

putrefy

[pyōō′trə-fī′]

To become decayed or cause to decay and have a foul odor.
To make or become gangrenous.