Adjacent Words

Putrefaction definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PUTREFAC'TION, n. [L. putrefactio; putris; putrid, and facio,to make.] A natural process by which animal and vegetable bodies are disorganized and dissolved, or reduced to their original separate elements. Putrefaction is greatly accelerated by heat and moisture.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor [syn: putrefaction, rot]
2: (biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action [syn: decomposition, rot, rotting, putrefaction]
3: moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles; "the luxury and corruption among the upper classes"; "moral degeneracy followed intellectual degeneration"; "its brothels, its opium parlors, its depravity"; "Rome had fallen into moral putrefaction" [syn: corruption, degeneracy, depravation, depravity, putrefaction]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English putrefaccion, from Late Latin putrefaction-, putrefactio, from Latin putrefacere Date: 14th century 1. the decomposition of organic matter; especially the typically anaerobic splitting of proteins by bacteria and fungi with the formation of foul-smelling incompletely oxidized products 2. the state of being putrefied ; corruption • putrefactive adjective

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Putrefaction Pu`tre*fac"tion, n. [L. putrefactio: cf. F. putr['e]faction. See Putrefy.] 1. The act or the process of putrefying; the offensive decay of albuminous or other matter. Note: Putrefaction is a complex phenomenon involving a multiplicity of chemical reactions, always accompanied by, and without doubt caused by, bacteria and vibriones; hence, putrefaction is a form of fermentation, and is sometimes called putrefaction fermentative. Putrefaction is not possible under conditions that preclude the development of living organisms. Many of the products of putrefaction are powerful poisons, and are called cadaveric poisons, or ptoma["i]nes. 2. The condition of being putrefied; also, that which putrefied. ``Putrefaction's breath.'' --Shelley.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Putrefaction is the process of decay. (FORMAL) ...the lingering stench of putrefaction.

Moby Thesaurus

caries, carrion, decay, decomposition, dry rot, foulness, gangrene, mortification, necrosis, putrescence, putridity, putridness, rancidity, rancidness, rankness, rot, rottenness, slough, sphacelation, sphacelus, spoilage, tooth decay