putrefaction
noun /ˌpjuːtrɪˈfækʃn/
/ˌpjuːtrɪˈfækʃn/
[uncountable] (formal)- the process of decaying, especially that of a dead body
- The smell was awful. Putrefaction had already set in.
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French, or from late Latin putrefactio(n-), from putrefacere ‘make rotten’, from puter, putr- ‘rotten’.