cauterize

Definition

To burn and hence seal open tissue using a heated article or caustic agent so as to stop bleeding or minimise the risk of infection.

Etymology

From Middle French cauteriser, from Late Latin cauterizō (“to burn with a hot iron”), from Ancient Greek καυτηριάζω (kautēriázō, “to brand”), from καυτήρ (kautḗr, “branding iron”), from καίω (kaíō, “to burn”).

Example Sentences

• "[…] Lanfrank takes Notice of Tract. 3. Doct. 3. cap. 18. ſaying, "I have ſeen many who being full of Humours, have made an Iſſue under the Knee, before due Purgation had been premis'd; whence, by reaſon of the too great Defluxion of Humours, the Legs tumified, ſo that the cauterized Place corrupted, and a Cancer (or rather cacoethic Ulcer) was thereby made, with which great Difficulty was cur'd.""