Meanings
plural clysters
- archaicA medicine applied via the rectum; an enema or suppository.
Cnelius a physician being sent for, found his costiveness alone to be the cause, and thereupon gave him a clyster, by which he was speedily recovered.
1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York: New York Review Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 233
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan injection of a liquid through the anus to stimulate evacuation; sometimes used for diagnostic purposes
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekκλυστήρ
- Middle Frenchclystere
- Englishclyster
From Middle French clystere, or its Latin source, in turn from Ancient Greek κλυστήρ (klustḗr).
More words from Middle French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with clyster
Cite this entry
clyster. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clyster
“clyster.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clyster. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clyster,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clyster.
Source: clyster on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.