putrescent
[pyoo-tres-uh nt]
- becoming putrid; undergoing putrefaction.
- of or relating to putrefaction.
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Origin of putrescent
1725–35; < Latin putrēscent- (stem of putrēscēns), present participle of putrēscere to grow rotten
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for putrescent
Historical Examples
Digger Indians are left to do that when the meat is putrescent.
They proved to be the lancet which cut the putrescent sore of the rising world.
The InsectJules Michelet
But from the putrescent mass of flesh, we salvaged a second jewel from Aptor.
The Jewels of AptorSamuel R. Delany
The putrescent are composed of decayed, or decaying, vegetable and animal substances.
Soil CultureJ. H. Walden
The disease so putrescent in its tendencies, had originated in animal putrefaction.
Forty Years in the Wilderness of Pills and PowdersWilliam A. Alcott
putrescent
- becoming putrid; rotting
- characterized by or undergoing putrefaction
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Word Origin
C18: from Latin putrescere to become rotten
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for putrescent
adj.
1732, a back-formation from putrescence, or else from Latin putrescentem (nominative putrescens), present participle of putrescere "grow rotten, moulder, decay," inchoative of putrere "be rotten" (see putrid).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
putrescent
(pyōō-trĕs′ənt)- Becoming putrid; putrefying.
- Of or relating to putrefaction.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.