"a medical enema," late 14c., from Old French clistre(13c., Modern French clystère) or directly from Latin clyster, from Greek klyster, from klyzein "to wash out" (see cloaca).
Entries linking to clyster
cloaca n.
1650s, euphemism for "underground sewer," from Latin cloaca "public sewer, drain," from cluere "to cleanse," probably from PIE root *kleu- "to wash, clean" (source also of Greek klyzein "to dash over, wash off, rinse out," klysma "liquid used in a washing;" Lithuanian šluoju,šluoti "to sweep;" Old English hlutor, Gothic hlutrs, Old High German hlutar, German lauter "pure, clear"). Use in biology, in reference to eliminatory systems of lower animals, is from 1834. Related: Cloacal (1650s); cloacinal (1857).