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fester

[fes-ter]

Origin

verb (used without object)

to form pus; generate purulent matter; suppurate.

to cause ulceration, as a foreign body in the flesh.

to putrefy or rot.

to rankle, as a feeling of resentment.

verb (used with object)

to cause to rankle: Malice festered his spirit.

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to spend time idly; loaf.

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noun

an ulcer; a rankling sore.

a small, purulent, superficial sore.

Origin:
1350–1400; (noun) Middle English festir, festre < Anglo-French, Old French festre < Latin fistula fistula (for -l- > -r- compare chapter); (v.) Middle English festryn, derivative of the noun or < Old French festrir

Related forms

un·fes·tered, adjective

un·fes·ter·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To fester

Collins

World English Dictionary

fester (ˈfɛstə)

—vb
1.	to form or cause to form pus
2.	(intr) to become rotten; decay
3.	to become or cause to become bitter, irritated, etc, esp over a long period of time; rankle: resentment festered his imagination
4.	informal (intr) to be idle or inactive

—n
5.	a small ulcer or sore containing pus

[C13: from Old French festre suppurating sore, from Latin: fistula]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

fester

late 14c., from O.Fr. festre, from L. fistula "pipe, ulcer" (see fistula). The noun is from c.1300. Related: Festered; festering.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

fester fes·ter (fěs'tər)
v. fes·tered, fes·ter·ing, fes·ters

To ulcerate.
To form pus; putrefy.

n.
An ulcer.

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"I ask whether the mere eating of human flesh so very far exceeds in barbarity that custom which only a few years since was practised in enlightened England:Ma convicted traitor, perhaps a man found guilty of honesty, patriotism, and suchlike heinous crimes, had his head lopped off with a huge axe, his bowels dragged out and thrown into a fire; while his body, carved into four quarters, was with his head exposed upon pikes, and permitted to rot and fester among the public haunts of men!"

-Herman Melville

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