The process of preventing infection by killing or inhibiting the growth of disease-causing microorganisms on living tissues.
From Greek 'anti-' (against) plus 'sepsis' (from Greek 'sépsis', meaning decay or putrefaction, from 'sépein', to make rotten). The term literally means fighting against decay.
Before antisepsis became standard in the 1860s-1880s, surgery was nearly as deadly as the disease—surgeons didn't know that washing their hands and sterilizing instruments could turn lethal operations into life-saving ones.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.