Suppurating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The phenomenon where an inflamed tissue produces pus can occur during infections or injuries
2. It describes the state in which a wound develops pus due to inflammation and infection
3. The process by which an infected wound or tissue generates a thick yellowish or greenish fluid composed of dead cells and bacteria

Etymology: The Latin word "pus" (genitive "puris") gives English its name for the thick yellowish fluid that gathers in infected tissue, and the verb grew from it through a Latin compound. "Suppurate" comes from "suppūrō," which combines the prefix "sub-" ("under") with "pūrō," a verb formed from the stem "pūr-" of "pūs." The sense was therefore one of forming pus from beneath the surface of the body, the image of matter working its way up or gathering under the skin. The Latin past participle "suppūrātus" passed into English as "suppurate," and the form you have here is the present participle used for the ongoing process. The word belongs to the same family as "purulent," meaning full of pus, which reaches English through the same Latin stem.

Synonyms: oozing, discharging, seeping, exuding, leaking

Antonyms: healing, closing, drying, sealing, mending