Asepses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Plural form of the state of being free from contamination by harmful bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms; the practice of maintaining such a sterile condition in medical or laboratory environments; or the methods used to achieve and preserve this germ-free condition
2. Multiple instances of the condition where environments or materials are devoid of pathogenic agents; referring to actions or protocols that ensure such uncontaminated states; or the sets of procedures aimed at preventing infection and contamination
3. Refers to several occurrences of an uncontaminated and germ-free status; encompassing both the condition and the systematic efforts to sustain it; as well as the processes involved in sterilizing and avoiding microbial infection

Etymology: The plural "asepses" is simply the plural of "asepsis," which refers to a condition free of living germs, along with the methods used to achieve and keep it. The noun is built from two Greek pieces. The first, "a-" (Greek ἀ-), is the familiar negating prefix, as in "atheist" or "anaerobic," meaning "without" or "not." The second is "sepsis," from the Greek "sēpsis," meaning putrefaction or the rotting of organic matter, which is itself linked to the verb "sēpein," to make rotten. Put together, "asepsis" means literally "absence of putrefaction." The English form was coined from these classical elements, so the Greeks themselves never used the word. It belongs to the vocabulary of modern medicine, where it was needed to name a deliberate, systematic way of keeping wounds and surgical instruments free of the microbes that caused infection.

Synonyms: sterility, sanitation, cleanliness, asepsis, antisepsis

Antonyms: infection, contamination, sepsis, dirtiness, pollution