Meanings
present singular third person absterges · participle present absterging · participle past absterged · past absterged
- archaictransitiveTo make clean by wiping; to wipe away.First known use First attested in the early 16ᵗʰ century.
I elevate and absterge my anime from its nocturnal inquinations.
Part 1 in 1534, Part 2 in 1532, translated 1653, 1693, 1694, and 1708, François Rabelais, translated by Sir Thomas Urquhart and Peter Antony Motteux, Gargantua and Pantagruel, page 209
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinabs-
- Medieval Latinabstergēre“wipe off or away”
- Middle Frenchabsterger
- Englishabsterge
From French and Middle French absterger or from Medieval Latin abstergēre (“wipe off or away”); formed from Latin abs- + tergeō (“to wipe off”).
More words from Middle French, Medieval Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Spanish absterger
- abstergerTranslations
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with absterge
Cite this entry
absterge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/absterge
“absterge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/absterge. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “absterge,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/absterge.
Source: absterge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.