Added 9 October 2026
pollution
/pəˈljuːʃən/ noun
In Latin: contaminatio Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about pollution at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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Physical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
Pollution levels are almost always higher in cities rather than the countryside, what with the cars, industry and so on.
- Something that pollutes; a pollutant.
- The desecration of something holy or sacred; defilement, profanation.
Origin
From Middle English pollucioun, pollucion (“desecration, impurity”), from Anglo-Norman pollutiun, Middle French pollution, pollucion, and their source, post-classical Latin pollūtiō (“defilement, desecration; nocturnal emission”) (4th century), from the participial stem of polluō (“to soil, defile, contaminate”), from por- (“before”) + -luō (“to smear”), related to lutum (“mud”) and luēs (“filth”). Compare Ancient Greek λῦμα (lûma, “filth, dirt, disgrace”) and λῦμαξ (lûmax, “rubbish, refuse”), Old Irish loth (“mud, dirt”), Lithuanian lutynas (“pool, puddle”). By surface analysis, pollute + -ion.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)