infusion

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English infusioun, also infucioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French infusion,^[4][3][2][5] recorded in French from the 13th century,^[4][3] or directly borrowed from Latin infūsiō (“a pouring in, a watering”),^{[4][3][5][6][7]} a noun of action from infūsus, the past participle of infundō (“to pour in”).^[3][4][7] The Latin verb is formed from in- (“in”) and fundō (“to pour, melt”).^[3] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century in the sense of a liquid extract.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A liquid extract obtained by soaking a substance in water: about 1400 in Etymonline.^[3] The Middle English Dictionary's first quotations, from John Arderne's treatise on fistula (about 1425), use it for pouring oil into a wound.^[2] The OED's first record, about 1450 in a translation of Thomas à Kempis, is for the infusing of grace or ideas into the soul.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word took over both sides of the Latin noun: the literal pouring in of a liquid, and the extract made by steeping.^[3][2][5] In theology it was used from the 15th century for the imparting of divine grace or of ideas to the mind.^[4] From the 17th century, in Bacon, it also named the introduction of any new element or quality, the sense of an infusion of new blood or of fresh money.^[4][9] The steeping sense became specific in the 16th century: the soaking of a substance in water to draw out its properties (1573), and the dilute liquid obtained, such as a tea of herbs (about 1550).^[4] Surgery used it for injection from 1601,^[4] and modern medicine for the slow introduction of a fluid such as a saline solution into a vein.^[10][9][5] From about 1770 it also named baptism by pouring water, as opposed to immersion.^[4] An obsolete sense "insinuation, insidious suggestion" lasted from 1641 to 1769,^[4] and Shakespeare used it once in Hamlet (1604) for an inborn temperament.^[4] Johnson (1755) defined it first as "the act of pouring in; instillation".^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – a liquid extract obtained by soaking.^[3]
• c. 1425 – the pouring of a liquid into a wound.^[2]
• c. 1450 – the infusing of grace or ideas into the soul.^[4]
• c. 1550 – a dilute extract made by steeping in water.^[4]
• 1573 – the steeping of a substance in water.^[4]
• 1601 – injection, in surgery.^[4]
• 1626 – the introduction of a new element or quality.^[4]
• 1641 – insinuation (obsolete by 1769).^[4]
• c. 1770 – baptism by pouring water.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of infusing, or of adding or introducing something new: an infusion of fresh talent into the company.^[10][9][4]
2. The steeping or soaking of a substance, usually in water, to draw out its flavour or properties.^[10][9][4]
3. The liquid extract so obtained, such as a herbal tea.^[10][9][4]
4. (medicine) The slow introduction of a fluid, such as a saline or glucose solution, into a vein; also, the fluid so given.^[10][9][5]
5. The pouring of water in baptism, as opposed to immersion; affusion.^[4]

Word family

• infusionism
• reinfusion

Related words

• infuse
• affusion
• effusion
• transfusion
• confusion

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.