To treat something with antiseptic substances to kill germs and prevent infection.
From antiseptic + -ize (verb-forming suffix). Antiseptic comes from anti- (against) + septic (from Greek septikos, causing putrefaction, from sepein, to rot). The verb form emerged as antiseptic methods became standard medical practice in the late 19th century.
Before Joseph Lister promoted antiseptic surgery in the 1860s, surgery was horrifically dangerous and most patients died from infection rather than the operation itself—antiseptizing wounds literally revolutionized medicine and saved millions of lives.
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