Word
absterge
Phoneticsab·sterge
Definition
v. to clean or wash something thoroughly. This is an old word that people rarely use today.
v. to cleanse or wash thoroughly. Archaic in modern usage, though it appears in historical or literary contexts.
Examples
“The old sailor absterge his hands in the saltwater.”
“In the old medical texts, the surgeon was instructed to absterge the wound before applying the bandage.”
Examples
simple
“The old sailor absterge his hands in the saltwater.”
contextual
“In the old medical texts, the surgeon was instructed to absterge the wound before applying the bandage.”
Etymology
From French and Middle French absterger or from Medieval Latin abstergēre (“wipe off or away”); formed from Latin abs- + tergeō (“to wipe off”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/absterge