Where does “absterge” come from?

absterge (English) comes from Latin abstergēre, from Latin tergeō — to rub, wipe, wipe off, clean, cleanse.

absterge (English): To make clean by wiping; to wipe away

Definitions

  1. To make clean by wiping; to wipe away

Ancestry of “absterge”, step by step

absterge traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Latin abstergēre

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinabstergēre—
2Latintergeōto rub, wipe, wipe off, clean, cleanse

via Middle French absterger

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchabsterger—
Every word from Latin tergeō →Every word from Latin abstergēre →