Suppuring

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Producing or discharging pus, as a wound or infected sore does when it becomes inflamed and festers
2. Oozing thick yellowish fluid from an infected area of the body because of bacterial infection and inflammation
3. Festering and giving off pus, describing a sore, boil or wound that has become infected and swollen

Etymology: Suppuring is the present participle of "suppure", which comes straight from Latin "suppūrāre", a compound of "sub" (under) and "pūrāre" (to make purulent, from "pus", "pūs"). The Latin idea was of matter gathering beneath the skin, which is exactly what a boil or wound does before it discharges. English took the verb in the sense of forming and discharging pus, so the word has always been a medical term at heart. The "sub" in the Latin reflects the physical picture: the pus collects beneath the surface and works its way outward. Because the Latin base was tied to pus itself, the word has stayed literal rather than drifting into figurative senses, which makes it one of the more transparent words in the medical vocabulary.

Synonyms: festering, oozing, discharging

Antonyms: healing, drying