[tlhIngan Hol] Is the given meaning definite ?

[mayqel qunen'oS]

There are some klingon words, which's given english definitions don't
match the direct translation of the klingon word.

Is it imperative, that when using such words, we need to be thinking
of the given english definition, or can we use the same klingon word
to express what the klingon word actually means ?

To illustrate my obscure point, I will use the verb Say'qu'moH and an
ancient cat.

So, lets say we just spent a fortune to acquire an ancient cat, and
the first thing we do is to make it very clean..

{vIghro' tIQ wIje'ta'bogh wISay'qu'moH}
we make the ancient cat which we have bought very clean

Right ?

But the problem is, that Say'qu'moH has been given as "to sterilize".

So, although the klingon says "we make the cat very clean", the Ca'NoN
translation says "we sterilize the cat".

And because I can *feel* someone ready to say that "to sterilize" is
to "make something very clean", I will rush to say YOU ARE WRONG !!!

To sterilize means to make something germ-free. Making something very
clean, means making it very clean.. To be sterile is to be very clean,
to be very clean isn't to be sterile.

So, the question is: Can we use Say'qu'moH to mean what it actually
means i.e. "to make something very clean", or since it has been given
as "to sterilize", it can only mean "sterilize" ?

~ changan qIj