Suppurating?

Wednesday, May 14th, 2003

My recent post on Gaugin’s tragic death quoted a reference to “suppurating syphilis sores” — but what exactly does “suppurating” mean? Merriam-Webster OnLine comes to the rescue:

Main Entry: sup·pu·rate
Pronunciation: ‘s&-py&-”rAt
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -rat·ed; -rat·ing
Etymology: Latin suppuratus, past participle of suppurare, from sub- + pur-, pus pus — more at FOUL
Date: 1656
: to form or discharge pus
- sup·pu·ra·tion /”s&-py&-’rA-sh&n/ noun
- sup·pu·ra·tive /’s&-py&-r&-tiv, -”rA-; ‘s&-pr&-tiv/ adjective

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