abscess

[ab-ses] /ˈæb sɛs/

Examples
Word Origin

noun, Pathology

a localized collection of pus in the tissues of the body, often accompanied by swelling and inflammation and frequently caused by bacteria.

Origin

Latin

1535-1545

1535-45; < Latin abscessus a going away, abscess, equivalent to absced-, variant stem of abscēdere to go away, separate off, form an abscess (abs- abs- + cēdere; see cede) + -tus suffix of v. action, with -dt- > -ss-

Related forms

abscessed, adjective

unabscessed, adjective

Can be confused

abscess, obsess.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2014.
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Examples from the web for abscess

IT may have perforated or broken through the omentum causing the acute pelvic abscess.
During the several weeks it took to run the tigress down, an abscess paralyzed his head and neck.
Radioactive abscess scan uses a radioactive substance to look for abscesses in the body.
He had an ultrasound of his neck as well to look for an abscess or clot in the vessels there.
Surgery is usually necessary to remove sources of infection such as an infected bowel, inflamed appendix, or abscess.
The diagnosis was an abscess caused by a parasitic infection, toxoplasmosis.
Cortisone had enlarged and distorted her face, the abscess on her elbow had burst, boils covered her backside.
After several hours she was sent home with a painkiller and an antibiotic to treat a presumed dental abscess.
But it quickly worsens into an abscess or pus-filled blister or sore and can become serious if it enters the bloodstream.
Mantle suffered an infection that necessitated surgery for the removal of an abscess on his right hip.

British Dictionary definitions for abscess

abscess

/ˈæbsɛs; -sɪs/

noun

a localized collection of pus formed as the product of inflammation and usually caused by bacteria

verb

(intransitive) to form such a collection of pus

Derived Forms

abscessed, adjective

Word Origin

C16: from Latin abscessus a going away, a throwing off of bad humours, hence an abscess, from abscēdere to go away

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for abscess

1610s, from Latin abscessus "an abscess" (Celsus), literally "a going away," from stem of abscedere "withdraw," from ab- "away" (see ab-) + cedere "to go" (see cede). The notion is that humors "go from" the body through the pus in the swelling.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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abscess in Medicine

abscess ab·scess (āb'sěs')
n.

A collection of pus formed by tissue destruction in an inflamed area of a localized infection.
A cavity that is formed by liquefactive necrosis within solid tissue.

v. ab·scessed, ab·scess·ing, ab·scess·es
To form an abscess.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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abscess in Science

abscess