suppuro

Forms

suppūrō (present infinitive suppūrāre, perfect active suppūrāvī, supine suppūrātum); first conjugation^[1] It is also spelled ⟨subpūrō⟩.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from sub- (“under”) and pūs (“pus”), with the verbal suffix -ō.^[3][1][4][5] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of pūs, which goes back to Proto-Italic *pūs- (“pus”) and Proto-Indo-European *puH-o/es- (“pus”).^[6] Cognates of that noun include Ancient Greek πύον (púon, “pus”) and Sanskrit पूयति (pū́yati, “to rot, stink”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Cato's treatise on agriculture,^[6][2] where an ulcer is said to fester beneath the flesh.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the literal sense it means to gather matter or come to a head beneath the skin, a medical term in Cato, Celsus, Columella and Pliny the Elder;^[2][7] Pliny uses the neuter plural of the present participle, suppūrantia, for suppurating sores,^[2][8] and the perfect participle suppūrātus for parts full of pus, such as ears.^[4][8]

Seneca uses it figuratively of pleasures that begin to fester in the body, and of ill-gotten gain that will one day turn to an abscess.^[4][7] Christian writers made it transitive: Tertullian has suppūrāre malum, to discharge an evil like pus, and Paulinus of Nola uses it of conceiving a violent passion.^[7][8]

It is continued, as learned words, in French suppurer, Italian suppurare and Spanish supurar.^[1]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a sore festering under the flesh.^[2][6][9]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of producing pus.^[7][9]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it figuratively of festering pleasures.^[4][9]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses suppūrantia for suppurating sores.^[2][9]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it transitively of discharging an evil.^[7][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To fester under the surface, form pus, suppurate.^[3][2]
2. (figurative) To fester, become corrupt.^[4][7]
3. (transitive) To cause to suppurate;^[4][7][8] (figurative) to discharge like pus, to breed (a passion).^[4][7][8]

Word family

• suppūrātiō
• suppūrātōrius

Related words

• pūs
• English suppurate

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de