ulcerate
Meaning
to become affected with an ulcer
to cause an ulcer to form on or in
Structure
Usage
the wound began to ulcerate and required medical attention.
certain conditions can cause the stomach lining to ulcerate.
without proper care, the lesion may ulcerate and become infected.
Etymology
the word 'ulcerate' is formed from the noun 'ulcer', which entered english from latin 'ulcus' (genitive 'ulceris'), meaning a sore or ulcer. the latin root is traced back to the proto-indo-european base elk-, meaning 'wound'. the suffix '-ate' is a productive verb-forming suffix borrowed from latin '-atus', used to denote a process or state. thus, the literal construction 'ulcer' + 'ate' logically means 'to become or make into an ulcer', directly describing the pathological process of sore formation.
Analysis
ulcer (latin, a sore, an ulcer) + ate (latin, verb-forming suffix meaning 'to become' or 'to make')