pū̆-

To rot, decay. Probably contracted from *puə- (becoming *puw- before vowels).

Derivatives include foul, fuzzy, potpourri, and pus.

1. Suffixed form *pū-lo-.

a. foul, from Old English fūl, unclean, rotten;

b. fulmar, from Old Norse fūll, foul;

c. filth, from Old English fȳlth, foulness, from Germanic abstract noun *fūlithō;

d. file³, foil¹; defile¹, from Old English fȳlan, to sully, from Germanic denominative *fūljan, to soil, dirty. a-d all from Germanic *fūlaz, rotten, filthy.

2. Extended form *pug-. fog², from Middle English fog, fogge, aftermath grass, from a Scandinavian source probably akin to Icelandic fūki, rotten sea grass, and Norwegian fogg, rank grass, from Germanic *fuk-.

3. Extended variant form *pous-. fuzzy, from Low German fussig, spongy, from Germanic *fausa-.

4. Suffixed form *pu-tri-. putrescent, putrid; olla podrida, potpourri, putrefy, from Latin puter (stem putri-), rotten.

5. Suffixed form *puw-os-.

a. purulent, pus; suppurate, from Latin pūs, pus;

b. pyo-, from Greek puon, puos, pus.

6. empyema, from Greek compound empuein, to suppurate (en-, in; see en).

 

[Pokorny 2. pū̆- 848.]

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