abscess

A1B3S1C3E1S1S1
US/ˈæbsɛs/US/ˈæbsɪs/

noun

A cavity caused by tissue destruction, usually because of infection, filled with pus and surrounded by inflamed tissue.

OriginLatin abscessus →
Less commonFirst used First attested in the mid 16ᵗʰ century.Scrabble 11
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Meanings

nounabscess (plural abscesses)

plural abscesses

  1. medicineA cavity caused by tissue destruction, usually because of infection, filled with pus and surrounded by inflamed tissue.First known use First attested in the mid 16ᵗʰ century.
verbabscess (third-person singular simple present abscesses, present participle abscessing, simple past and past participle abscessed)

present singular third person abscesses · participle present abscessing · participle past abscessed · past abscessed

  1. intransitiveTo form a pus-filled cavity, typically from an infection.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
boil

Origin

  1. Latinabscessus“a going away; gathering of humors, abscess”
  2. Englishabscess

Borrowed from Latin abscessus (“a going away; gathering of humors, abscess”), from abscēdō (“go away, depart”), from abs (“away from”) + cēdō (“go”). See cede.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek δοθιήν
  • δοθιήν (dothiḗn)cavity filled with pus
Arabic دُمَّل, خُرَاج
  • دُمَّل (dummal)cavity filled with pus
  • خُرَاج (ḵurāj)cavity filled with pus
  • خُرَّاج (ḵurrāj)cavity filled with pus
Bulgarian абсце́с, ци́рей
  • абсце́с (abscés)cavity filled with pus
  • ци́рей (círej)cavity filled with pus
  • гно́йник (gnójnik)cavity filled with pus
Catalan abscés
  • abscéscavity filled with pus
Chinese Mandarin 膿腫 /脓肿
  • 膿腫 /脓肿 (nóngzhǒng)cavity filled with pus
Czech absces, hnisavý vřed
  • abscescavity filled with pus
  • hnisavý vředcavity filled with pus
Dutch abces, etterbuil
  • abcescavity filled with pus
  • etterbuilcavity filled with pus
  • ettergezwelcavity filled with pus
  • een abces vormento form an abscess
Esperanto absceso
  • abscesocavity filled with pus
Finnish paise, märkäpesäke
  • paisecavity filled with pus
  • märkäpesäkecavity filled with pus
  • absessicavity filled with pus
  • märkiäto form an abscess
French abcès, abcéder
  • abcèscavity filled with pus
  • abcéderto form an abscess
German Abszess, Eiterbeule
  • Abszesscavity filled with pus
  • Eiterbeulecavity filled with pus
Greek απόστημα
  • απόστημα (apóstima)cavity filled with pus
Hebrew מוּרְסָה
  • מוּרְסָה (mursa)cavity filled with pus
Hindi विद्रधि
  • विद्रधि (vidradhi)cavity filled with pus
Hungarian tályog, kelés
  • tályogcavity filled with pus
  • keléscavity filled with pus
  • gennyedto form an abscess
  • elgennyedto form an abscess
  • elgennyesedikto form an abscess
  • tályogosodikto form an abscess
  • eltályogosodikto form an abscess
  • meggyűlikto form an abscess
Icelandic kýli
  • kýlicavity filled with pus
Indonesian abses
  • absescavity filled with pus
Irish easpa
  • easpacavity filled with pus
Italian ascesso
  • ascessocavity filled with pus
Japanese 膿瘍, 腫れ物
  • 膿瘍 (nōyō)cavity filled with pus
  • 腫れ物 (haremono)cavity filled with pus
Korean 농양
  • 농양 (nong'yang)cavity filled with pus
Latin vomica
  • vomicacavity filled with pus
Malay bisul, abses
  • bisulcavity filled with pus
  • absescavity filled with pus
Māori tāpoa, whēwhē
  • tāpoacavity filled with pus
  • whēwhēcavity filled with pus
  • maiaocavity filled with pus
  • tumacavity filled with pus
Norwegian Bokmål abscess, byll
  • abscesscavity filled with pus
  • byllcavity filled with pus
  • verkebyllcavity filled with pus
  • abscedereto form an abscess
Persian دمل, آبسه
  • دمل (domal)cavity filled with pus
  • آبسه (âbse)cavity filled with pus
Polish ropień, absces
  • ropieńcavity filled with pus
  • abscescavity filled with pus
Portuguese abscesso, abcesso
  • abscessocavity filled with pus
  • abcessocavity filled with pus
  • abscederto form an abscess
Romanian abces
  • abcescavity filled with pus
Russian гнойни́к, гнойничо́к
  • гнойни́к (gnojník)cavity filled with pus
  • гнойничо́к (gnojničók)cavity filled with pus
  • нары́в (narýv)cavity filled with pus
  • абсце́сс (abscéss)cavity filled with pus
Scottish Gaelic neasgaid
  • neasgaidcavity filled with pus
Spanish absceso, flemón
  • abscesocavity filled with pus
  • flemóncavity filled with pus
  • abscederto form an abscess
Swedish abscess
  • abscesscavity filled with pus
Tagalog naknak, pigsa
  • naknakcavity filled with pus
  • pigsacavity filled with pus
  • bagâcavity filled with pus
  • absesocavity filled with pus
Turkish apse
  • apsecavity filled with pus
Ukrainian гнійни́к, гноя́к
  • гнійни́к (hnijnýk)cavity filled with pus
  • гноя́к (hnoják)cavity filled with pus
  • гноя́нка (hnojánka)cavity filled with pus
  • нари́в (narýv)cavity filled with pus
  • абсце́с (abscés)cavity filled with pus
Vietnamese áp-xe
  • áp-xecavity filled with pus
Welsh crawniad
  • crawniadcavity filled with pus
Yiddish געשוויר
  • געשוויר (geshvir)cavity filled with pus

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with abscess

absciss
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

abscess. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abscess

MLA

“abscess.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abscess. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “abscess,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abscess.

Source: abscess on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.