fester

Etymology

From Old French festre (cognate with Italian fistola, Occitan fistola, Spanish fístula), from Latin fistula. The verb is derived from the noun, while the “condition of something that festers” noun sense is derived from the verb. Doublet of fistula.

noun

1. (pathology, obsolete) A fistula.
2. (pathology) A sore or an ulcer of the skin.
   The larger the Spider, the warmer the climate or season of the year, and the more susceptible the wounded individual, so much worse will the effects be; and it is no therefore no wonder that people who would have a fester from a simple prick with a needle, should feel more violent effects from the bite of a Spider. 1848, Samuel Maunder, “SPIDERS. (Arachnida.)”, in The Treasury of Natural History; or, A Popular Dictionary of Animated Nature: In which the Zoological Characteristics that Distinguish the Different Classes, Genera, and Species, are Combined with a Variety of Interesting Information Illustrative of the Habits, Instincts, and General Economy of the Animal Kingdom. To which are Added, a Syllabus of Practical Taxidermy, and a Glossarial Appendix. …, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster-Row, →OCLC, page 637, column 1
   While to the fingers and toes, which are frequently the seat of spontaneous festers, &c., irritation is kept up [if a hot poultice is applied], the skin is thickened, and rendered less liable to be permeated by matter; the heat is driven down the soft structures to the very bones and joints, and a portion of them may be lost in consequence. 1861, Benjamin Ridge, “Medical and Self Torture”, in Ourselves, Our Food, and Our Physic, London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly, →OCLC, page 68
   He has been away so long and so often, there has been such mismanagement under a long minority, such changes and such misrule, such a hard hand and such a high hand, that the whole place is a fester. 1864 July, “The Rim. Part III.—Conclusion.”, in The Atlantic Monthly. A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politcs, volume XIV, number LXXXI, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, 135, Washington Street; London: Trübner and Company, →OCLC, page 68
3. The condition of something that festers; a festering; a festerment.

verb

1. (intransitive) To become septic; to become rotten.
   and she for the despyte of her sones dethe wrought by her subtyl craftes that syr Vrre shold neuer be hole but euer his woundes shold one tyme feyster & another tyme blede "and she, for the despite of her son’s death, wrought by her subtle crafts that Sir Urre should never be whole, but ever his wounds should one time fester and another time bleed" 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XIX, Chapter x, leaf 394v
   On the day of my inauguration, the director of the Nationalist Party county office ordered the Chungli mayor to stop trash collection. Because I could not command the Chungli sanitation department directly—it is administered at the local level—piles of garbage began to fester on the streets. 2014, Lu Hsiu-lien, Ashley Esarey, My Fight for a New Taiwan, University of Washington Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 240
   Here, Melanie once again provides an interesting variation on the formula, serving as a scout and ambassador between worlds. Don't expect anything new from her human counterparts, though, just the usual shooting and running and hiding slowly festering flesh wounds. 23 February 2017, Katie Rife, “The Girl With All The Gifts tries to put a fresh spin on overripe zombie clichés”, in The A.V. Club
2. (intransitive) To worsen, especially due to lack of attention.
   Deal with the problem immediately; do not let it fester.
   All this time hatred, kept down by fear, festered in the hearts of the children of the soil. 1855, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XVII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume IV, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 116
3. (transitive) To cause to fester or rankle.
   For which I burnt in inward sweltring hate, / And festred rankling malice in my breast, / Till I might belke revenge upon his eyes: […] c. 1599–1600, John Marston, Antonios Reuenge. The Second Part. As it hath beene Sundry Times Acted, by the Children of Paules, London: Printed [by Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde [by Matthew Lownes] in Saint Dunstans Church-yarde, published 1602, →OCLC, Act I, scene i; republished in J[ames] O[rchard] Halliwell, editor, The Works of John Marston. Reprinted from the Original Editions. With Notes, and some Account of His Life and Writings. … In Three Volumes, volume I, London: John Russell Smith, Soho Square, 1856, →OCLC, page 74