landfill

Etymology

It is formed from English land + fill,^[2][3][4] the second part being the noun fill, material used for filling.^[2][3] Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A site where refuse is buried under layers of earth: 1903, in Scribner's Magazine.^[2] Merriam-Webster also dates the word to 1903,^[5] Etymonline finds it by 1916, of a place where waste was dumped and covered with soil so as to make land usable,^[3] and Dictionary.com gives 1940–45.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word joined the idea of filling low ground to make usable land with that of getting rid of waste: Merriam-Webster defines the practice as burying trash under layers of earth in low ground, and also uses the word for an area built up in this way.^[5][3] The method of disposal itself is called landfill from 1938, when the word was also first used attributively, as in landfill site, now the usual British phrase.^[2][6] The material dumped, or used to level an excavated site, is landfill from 1969, with figurative uses.^[2] The verb, to dispose of refuse at a landfill or to fill something with landfill, is recorded from 1988.^[2]

Timeline

• 1903 – a site where refuse is buried under earth.^[2][5]
• 1938 – the disposal of refuse by such burial; attributive use, landfill site.^[2]
• 1969 – material dumped at such a site, or used to level ground.^[2]
• 1988 – verb, to dispose of refuse at a landfill.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A site where waste is disposed of by burying it under layers of earth; a dump: The town's landfill is nearly full.^[5][2]
2. The disposal of waste in this way: Most of the plastic ends up in landfill.^[6][5][2]
3. The waste material buried at such a site, or material used to level ground.^[2]

Verb

1. To dispose of refuse by burying it at a landfill.^[5][2]

Related words

• land
• fill

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins