suppository

English

Etymology

From Middle English suppositorie, from Anglo-Norman, from Medieval Latin suppositorium, from Late Latin, neuter of suppositorius (“placed beneath”), from Latin supponere (“to put under”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /səˈpɒzɪtəɹi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: sə-päzʹĭ-tôr'ē, IPA^(key): /səˈpɑzɪˌtɔɹi/

Noun

suppository (plural suppositories)

1. (medicine) A medicine in the form of a small plug that is inserted into a bodily cavity, especially the rectum, vagina or urethra, where it melts at body temperature.
   • 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 372:

     He's smoother than a suppository, only his suppositories contain dynamite.

Translations

medicine in the form of a small plug that is inserted into a bodily cavity

• Arabic: تَحْمِيلَة f (taḥmīla), لَبُوس m (labūs), مفتول sg or m (maftul)
• Bulgarian: свещичка f (sveštička)
• Catalan: supositori (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 栓劑／栓剂 (zh) (shuānjì)

• Czech: čípek (cs) m
• Danish: stikpille (da) c
• Dutch: zetpil (nl) f, suppositoir m, suppo (nl) m
• Egyptian: (mt f)
• Esperanto: supozitorio
• Finnish: suppo (fi), suppositorio (fi), peräpuikko (fi)
• French: suppositoire (fr) m
• German: Zäpfchen (de) n
• Greek: υπόθετο (el) n (ypótheto)
• Hungarian: kúp (hu), végbélkúp (hu)
• Icelandic: stíll m, stikkpilla f
• Indonesian: supositoria
• Irish: sopastóir m
• Italian: supposta (it)
• Japanese: (general) 坐薬 (ja) (zayaku), (formal) 坐剤 (ja) (zazai)
• Korean: 좌약 (jwayak)
• Lithuanian: žvakùtė f
• Malay: supositori
• Persian: شیاف (fa) (šiâf)
• Polish: czopek (pl) m
• Portuguese: supositório m
• Russian: суппозиторий (ru) m (suppozitorij), свеча́ (ru) f (svečá)
• Slovak: čapík m
• Spanish: supositorio (es) m, cala (es) f
• Swedish: stolpiller (sv)
• Turkish: fitil (tr)

See also

• clyster
• enema
• pessary