From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Putrefaction \Pu`tre*fac"tion\, n. [L. putrefactio: cf. F.
putr['e]faction. See {Putrefy}.]
1. The act or the process of putrefying; the offensive decay
of albuminous or other matter.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Putrefaction is a complex phenomenon involving a
multiplicity of chemical reactions, always accompanied
by, and without doubt caused by, bacteria and
vibriones; hence, putrefaction is a form of
fermentation, and is sometimes called putrefaction
fermentative. Putrefaction is not possible under
conditions that preclude the development of living
organisms. Many of the products of putrefaction are
powerful poisons, and are called cadaveric poisons, or
ptoma["i]nes.
[1913 Webster]
2. The condition of being putrefied; also, that which
putrefied. "Putrefaction's breath." --Shelley.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
putrefaction
n 1: a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor
[syn: {putrefaction}, {rot}]
2: (biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal
action [syn: {decomposition}, {rot}, {rotting},
{putrefaction}]
3: moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles;
"the luxury and corruption among the upper classes"; "moral
degeneracy followed intellectual degeneration"; "its
brothels, its opium parlors, its depravity"; "Rome had fallen
into moral putrefaction" [syn: {corruption}, {degeneracy},
{depravation}, {depravity}, {putrefaction}]
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