The act of cleansing or cleaning, especially of a wound or affected area.
From Latin 'detergere' (to wipe or wash away), combining 'de-' (away) and 'tergere' (to wipe). An archaic medical term meaning to clean thoroughly.
In old medical texts, 'detersion' was one of the key steps doctors used when treating wounds—they believed thoroughly cleaning away infected material was half the battle against infection!
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