Absterge
/əbˈstɜːrdʒ/noun
To wipe, rub, or cleanse something away.
Did you know?Absterge belongs to the same Latin cleansing family that ultimately gave English the technical word detergent, though absterge itself is now largely obsolete.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*tergʰ-
“To rub, wipe, or scrape”
Classical Latin
Latin
tergēre
“To wipe off, rub clean, or cleanse”
Classical Latin
Latin
abstergēre
“To wipe away or remove by rubbing; ab- means away from”
Middle English
English
absterge
“To wipe away or cleanse”
16th–17th Century
English
absterge
“To remove impurity or moisture, especially in medical or technical writing”
Modern English
English
absterge
“An archaic or rare verb meaning to wipe or cleanse away”