Putrefy
/ˈpjuː.trɪ.faɪ/noun
To decay and become rotten or decomposed.
Did you know?Its Latin ancestor, putrēfacere, is a compound of puter/putris (“rotten”) + facere (“to make”), so the word literally names the act of causing corruption.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pewd-
“to rot, stink”
Latin
Latin
puter, putris
“rotten, decayed”
Latin
Latin
putrēfacere
“to make rotten, cause to decay”
Old French
Old French
putrefier
“to corrupt, rot”
Middle English
English
putrefien
“to rot, decay”
Modern English
English
putrefy
“to decay and become rotten”
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