Word of the Day:

: to wash off : to cleanse

In order to prevent infection, it is necessary to properly deterge and disinfect the wound.

"Deterge" is not a particularly common word in the English language. However, it is related to a word with which most of us are likely familiar: "detergent." Like "detergent," "deterge" comes (possibly by way of French "déterger") from the Latin verb "detergēre," itself from "de-" and "tergēre" ("to wipe"). "Deterge" entered the English language in the early 1600s and has primarily been used in medical contexts, such as Ambrose Cooper's 1757 recipe for Vulnerary Water: "This Water is of excellent Service in Contusions, Tumors attending Dislocation, Fractures and Mortifications, the Part affected being bathed with it. Some also use it to deterge foul Ulcers, and incarn Wounds…."