antiseptic adj
1. thoroughly clean and free of or destructive to disease-causing organisms; "doctors in antiseptic green coats"; "the antiseptic effect of alcohol"; "it is said that marjoram has antiseptic qualities" [ant: septic]
2. clean and honest; "antiseptic financial practices"
3. freeing from error or corruption; "the antiseptic effect of sturdy criticism"
4. made free from live bacteria or other microorganisms; "sterilized instruments" [syn: sterilized, sterilised]
5. (extended sense) of exceptionally clean language; "lyrics as antiseptic as Sunday School" n : a substance that destroys micro-organisms that carry disease without harming body tissues

Antiseptic \An`ti*sep"tic\, Antiseptical \An`ti*sep"tic*al\, a. Counteracting or preventing putrefaction, or a putrescent tendency in the system; antiputrefactive. Antiseptic surgery, that system of surgical practice which insists upon a systematic use of antiseptics in the performance of operations and the dressing of wounds.

Antiseptic \An`ti*sep"tic\, n. A substance which prevents or retards putrefaction, or destroys, or protects from, putrefactive organisms; as, salt, carbolic acid, alcohol, cinchona.

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Antiseptics (from Greek ἀντί - anti, '"against") are antimicrobial substances that are applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction. Antiseptics are generally distinguished from antibiotics by the latter's ability to be transported through the lymphatic system to destroy bacteria within the body, and from disinfectants, which destroy microorganisms found on non-living objects. Some antiseptics are true germicides, capable of destroying microbes (bacteriocidal), whilst others are bacteriostatic and only prevent or inhibit their growth. Antibacterials are antiseptics that have the proven ability to act against bacteria. Microbicides which kill virus particles are called viricides or antivirals.

The widespread introduction of antiseptic surgical methods followed the publishing of the paper Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery in 1867 by Joseph Lister, inspired by Louis Pasteur's germ theory of putrefaction. In this paper he advocated the use of carbolic acid (phenol) as a method of ensuring that any germs present were killed. Some of this work was anticipated by:

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