abstersion
(æbˈstɜːʃən)
Also 6 abstertion, abstarcion.
[a. Fr. abstersion (16th c.), n. of action f. L. absters- ppl. stem of abstergēre: see absterge and -ion1.]
The act or process of wiping clean, cleansing, scouring, or purging. lit. and fig.
| 1543 Traheron Vigo's Chirurg ii. xvii. 28 Incarne [the place] wyth thys incarnative, whych dothe bothe incarne and mundifye with some abstertion. 1562 W. Bullein Dial. betw. Sorenes 16 a, Use the maner of digestion, and abstarcion in maner as I haue said. 1649 Jer. Taylor Great Exemp. i. ix. 135 The Messias..needed not the abstersions of repentance, or the washings of baptisme. 1814 Scott Wav. (1829) xx. 153 The task of ablution and abstersion being performed..by a smoke-dried skinny old Highland woman. 1850 Merivale Hist. Rom. Emp. (1865) VIII. lxvi. 218 No great city was ever so badly placed for due abstersion by natural outfall. |