putrescent adj.

"a putrid state; tendency to decay," 1640s, from Latin putrescentem (nominative putrescens), present participle of putrescere "grow rotten, molder, decay," inchoative of putrere "be rotten" (see putrid). Related: Putrescency.

late 14c., "festering gangrenous, in a state of decay," from Old French putride and directly from Latin putridus, from putrere "to rot," from putris "rotten, crumbling," related to putere "to stink," from PIE root *pu- (2) "to rot, stink" (see pus). First in reference to putrid fever, an old name for typhus (also known in Middle English as putrida), which supposedly was caused by putrefaction of bodily humors. Related: Putridness.

also pot-pourri, 1610s, "mixed meats and vegetables cooked together and served in a stew," from French pot pourri "stew," literally "rotten pot" (loan-translation of Spanish olla podrida), from pourri, past participle of pourrir "to rot," from Vulgar Latin *putrire, from Latin putrescere "grow rotten" (see putrescent). The notion of "medley" led to the meaning "mixture of dried flowers and spices," attested in English by 1749. Figurative sense (originally in music) of "miscellaneous collection" is recorded from 1855.