Sanguify

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cover or stain something with blood, making it bloody or reddened by gore
2. Describing the act of smearing or soaking an object or person in blood until it is bloody
3. Turning something red with blood, typically by bloodying or staining it in a violent way

Etymology: Sanguify is a plain coinage built from Latin "sanguis," meaning "blood," with the English suffix "-fy," which turns a noun into a verb meaning "to make into" or "to cause to be." The stem "sangui-" is the Latin form of "sanguis" used in combining, so the verb means, quite literally, to make something bloody. French has a close relative, "sanguifier," which suggests the same formation was made independently in both languages from the same Latin root. Because the word is a transparent formation, it shows what its parts were meant to do: the Latin noun supplies the substance and the English suffix supplies the action. Few readers will meet it outside a dictionary, but its structure is the same as that of other English verbs ending in "-fy," such as "purify" or "terrify," built on Latin or French material in the same way.

Synonyms: bloody, stain with blood