early 15c., from Latin suppuratus, past participle of suppurare "form or discharge pus" (see suppuration). Related: Suppurated; suppurating.
1540s, from medical Latin suppurativus, from suppurat-, stem of suppurare (see suppuration). As a noun from 1560s.
yellowish-white inflammatory exudation, consisting of white blood cells, etc., produced by suppuration, late 14c., from Latin pus "pus, matter from a sore;" figuratively "bitterness, malice" (related to puter "rotten" and putere "to stink"), from PIE *pu- (2) "to rot, decay" (source also of Sanskrit puyati "rots, stinks," putih "stinking, foul, rotten;" Greek puon "discharge from a sore," pythein "to cause to rot;" Lithuanian pūvu, pūti "to rot;" Gothic fuls, Old English ful "foul"), perhaps originally echoic of a natural exclamation of disgust.
The formation of pus is called suppuration. A collection of pus within the solid tissues is called an abscess. A suppurating open sore is an ulcer. [Century Dictionary]
c. 1400, maturen, "encourage suppuration;" mid-15c., of plants, "cause to ripen, bring to maturity," from Latin mātūrare "to ripen, bring to maturity," from mātūrus "ripe, timely, early," related to māne "early, of the morning," from PIE *meh-tu- "ripeness." De Vaan writes that "The root is probably the same as in mānus 'good'." Intransitive sense of "come to a state of ripeness, become ripe or perfect" is from 1650s. The financial sense of "reach the time for payment" is by 1861. Related: Matured; maturing.
