septicityn.
/sɛpˈtɪsᵻti/, U.S. /sɛpˈtɪsᵻdi/ 1. Originally: †the property of causing putrefaction or corrosion of tissue (cf. septic adj.1 1a) (obsolete); †the condition of being putrid (obsolete). In later use: the condition of being infected or contaminated by bacteria or other pathogens; the property of causing infection, esp. blood-borne or disseminated infection. Now rare.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > suppuration > [noun] > sepsis
purulency1612
septicity1731
sepsis1813
1731 T. Apperley Observ. in Physick 283 Salts do appear to reign in the Small-Pox, from the Ravage they make on the Skin, where certain Signs of Septicity are seen and discover'd by the naked Eye.
1800 R. Heron Elements Chem. 622 In its septicity in certain states, and its antisepticity in some others, Lime has an agency remarkably similar to that of Oxygen and the compounds into which it enters.
1871 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 Sept. 267/2 The costermonger..who was arrested for selling the putrid melons, was with difficulty restrained from offering himself a sacrifice to his disbelief in septicity.
1900 Med. News 22 Sept. 448/1 The type of the disease must depend upon the development in the infecting organisms of the inherent qualities of toxicity and septicity.
1915 J. K. Murphy Wounds of Thorax in War v. 79 Should the septicity of the wound continue, the possibility of assisting the patient's defensive organization to combat the hostile organisms should be at once considered.
1930 Lancet 15 Feb. 349/1 I have lately had..assistance..in making some observations on the comparative septicity of the dummy and the thumb, and in ascertaining approximately which of the two is the greater source of possible infection.
2. With reference to sewage treatment: the activity of anaerobic bacteria in sewage; the degree or rate of this (often when considered to be excessive or to be the source of undesirable gases and odours); the concentration of anaerobic bacteria in raw sewage, sewage sludge, etc.
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1905 G. A. Johnson Rep. Sewage Purification Columbus, Ohio 122 The increases [in free ammonia] were most marked..when all of the tanks showed the most pronounced evidence of active septicity.
1931 Sewage Wks. Jrnl. 3 431 The greater the period of septicity, the greater the acidity produced.
1958 Sewage & Industr. Wastes 30 1235/2 Up-sewer chlorination generally is employed to control septicity and odors.
2015 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. (Nexis) 22 May 4 We've set up monitors in the sewer works that can measure septicity—which causes bad odour.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1731