sepsis

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromσῆψις“putrefaction”
2. English todaysepsis

From Ancient Greek σῆψις (sêpsis, “putrefaction”), from σήπω (sḗpō, “to make rotten”), from σήψ (sḗps, “a kind of lizard; also a kind of serpent whose bite was alleged to cause putrefaction”).