entry
pollution
/pəˈluːʃən/harmful contamination of the natural environment
From Latin, ultimately Proto-Indo-European pollu- (to soil).
from PIE root *leu- "dirt; make dirty" (see lutose ). Sense of "contamination of the environment" is recorded
from Late Latin pollutionem (nominative pollutio ) "defilement," noun of action
from Middle English pollucioun, pollucion (“desecration, impurity”)
from Late Latin pollutionem (nominative pollutio ) "defilement," noun of action
Word Ancestry
from PIE root *leu- "dirt; make dirty" (see lutose ). Sense of "contamination of the environment" is recorded
from Late Latin pollutionem (nominative pollutio ) "defilement," noun of action
from Middle English pollucioun, pollucion (“desecration, impurity”)
from Late Latin pollutionem (nominative pollutio ) "defilement," noun of action
Long before pollution meant smokestacks, plastic, and poisoned rivers, it referred to a much more intimate kind of defilement: in medieval English, pollucioun could mean a nocturnal emission. The word came through Late Latin pollūtiō, “defilement,” from polluere, “to soil or contaminate,” probably built from por- and a verb related to “smear”; the deeper connection to Proto-Indo-European *leu- is supported, but the exact Latin construction is not perfectly certain. By the late fourteenth century, English speakers were using it for ceremonial or moral uncleanness, as if contamination were something that could cling to a person’s soul as stubbornly as mud to a robe. The environmental sense appeared around 1860 and became ordinary only around 1955, when industrial smoke and chemical waste gave an old moral word a new, planetary target. So pollution is ultimately a mud-word: every poisoned river carries an echo of the ancient idea that dirt is not merely ugly—it is defilement made visible.
The Story
Long before pollution meant smokestacks, plastic, and poisoned rivers, it referred to a much more intimate kind of defilement: in medieval English, pollucioun could mean a nocturnal emission. The word came through Late Latin pollūtiō, “defilement,” from polluere, “to soil or contaminate,” probably built from por- and a verb related to “smear”; the deeper connection to Proto-Indo-European *leu- is supported, but the exact Latin construction is not perfectly certain. By the late fourteenth century, English speakers were using it for ceremonial or moral uncleanness, as if contamination were something that could cling to a person’s soul as stubbornly as mud to a robe. The environmental sense appeared around 1860 and became ordinary only around 1955, when industrial smoke and chemical waste gave an old moral word a new, planetary target. So pollution is ultimately a mud-word: every poisoned river carries an echo of the ancient idea that dirt is not merely ugly—it is defilement made visible.
Modern Usage
Urban Dictionary records informal uses for harmful gas or chemical mixtures and, figuratively, for spreading gossip or drama.
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries describing pollution as harmful gas mixtures and as gossip or drama
Kin & Kindred
From 'pollu-'·to soil, defile, contaminate
Derived Terms
English words from this root