Standard Lemma guide

purulent

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈpjʊəɹ(j)ʊlənt/
  • /ˈpjʊəɹələnt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P Y UH1 R UW0 L AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Consisting of pus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, sciences

Examples

  • Near-synonym: puriform

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: puriform

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Leaking or seeping pus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, sciences

Examples

  • purulent inflammation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pussy, suppurant

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

containing pus

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a purulent wound

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pussy

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French purulent, from Latin pūrulentus, from pūs (“pus”).

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: гноен (gnoen) — consisting of pus
  • Catalan: purulent — consisting of pus
  • Dutch: etterend — consisting of pus
  • Dutch: etterig — consisting of pus
  • Dutch: purulent — consisting of pus
  • Finnish: märkivä — consisting of pus
  • Finnish: märkäinen — consisting of pus
  • French: purulent — consisting of pus
  • Galician: purulento — consisting of pus
  • German: eiterig — consisting of pus
  • German: Eiter- — consisting of pus
  • Greek: πυώδης (pyódis) — consisting of pus
  • Hungarian: gennyes — consisting of pus
  • Indonesian: purulen — consisting of pus
  • Irish: angaíoch — consisting of pus
  • Irish: angúil — consisting of pus
  • Italian: purulento — consisting of pus
  • Māori: taemataku — consisting of pus
  • Polish: ropny — consisting of pus
  • Portuguese: purulento — consisting of pus
  • Russian: гно́йный (gnójnyj) — consisting of pus
  • Southern Altai: ириҥдӱ (iriŋdü) — consisting of pus
  • Spanish: purulento — consisting of pus
  • Ukrainian: гнійни́й (hnijnýj) — consisting of pus
  • Bulgarian: гноясал (gnojasal) — leaking or seeping pus
  • Finnish: märkivä — leaking or seeping pus
  • Greek: πυώδης (pyódis) — leaking or seeping pus
  • Hungarian: gennyedző — leaking or seeping pus
  • Indonesian: purulen — leaking or seeping pus
  • Italian: purulento — leaking or seeping pus
  • Māori: taemataku — leaking or seeping pus
  • Ukrainian: гнійни́й (hnijnýj) — leaking or seeping pus