What does vesicate mean?
Vesicate means to cause blisters to form on the skin or other tissue. It is a formal and relatively uncommon verb, used chiefly in medical, toxicological, and pharmacological contexts. Certain irritant chemicals, plant substances, or severe burns may vesicate affected tissue. The related participle “vesicating” is particularly common when describing an agent that produces blistering. Although “vesicate” can function transitively, as in “vesicate the skin,” it may also be used intransitively of tissue that becomes blistered. The word is more precise than a general reference to irritation when the specific result is the formation of one or more blisters. Its Latin ancestry provides a memorable clue: the related Latin noun vesīca means “bladder,” reflecting the bladder-like appearance of the blisters the verb describes.
verbTo cause blisters to form on the skin or other tissue; also used intransitively of tissue that becomes blistered.
- To cause a blister or blisters to form on the skin or other tissue.
- To become blistered or covered with blisters.
"The chemical is capable of vesicating the skin after only brief exposure."
"Severe burns may vesicate the surrounding skin."
"The skin began to vesicate shortly after contact with the irritant."
Its Latin ancestor means “bladder,” a fitting clue for a word that makes skin blister.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does vesicate come from?
Vesicate comes through English from Latin vesicāre, meaning “to blister,” which was derived from vesīca, “bladder.” The English form follows this Latin technical tradition and has remained chiefly a learned or medical borrowing. Its relatives include vesicant and vesicator, both denoting agents associated with blistering, and vesicatory, meaning blistering.
Related word forms
How vesicate is actually used
This is a formal, technical, and relatively uncommon verb, encountered especially in medicine, toxicology, and pharmacology. It is often encountered as the participial form “vesicating,” as in “a vesicating agent.”