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manure

Etymology and origin of the English word manure

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /məˈnjʊə/ (UK); /məˈnʊɹ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English manouren (“to cultivate land”),[2][3][4][5][6] borrowed from Anglo-Norman mainouverer (“to work with the hands”),[2][3][4][5][6] from Old French manouvrer,[3][4][6] from Medieval Latin manuoperāre (“to work by hand”),[2][3][4][5] from Latin manū (“by hand”) and operārī “to work”.[2][3][5] It is a doublet of maneuver.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a verb, to hold or manage land (before 1400–50)[7][3] and to till, cultivate land (c. 1400).[4][7]

Semantic evolution

From “to work the earth” the verb came to mean “to put dung or compost on the soil” (1599),[7][3][4] and the noun “dung used as fertilizer” is recorded from 1549.[7][3][4][5] Until the late 18th century the verb was still used figuratively of cultivating the mind, as when Milton wrote of study that “manures” one's gifts.[4][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – verb, to cultivate land.[4][7][3]
  • 1549 – noun, dung used as fertilizer.[7][3][4]
  • c. 1540 – verb, to cultivate the mind.[7]
  • 1599 – verb, to fertilize with manure.[7][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Animal dung, often mixed with straw or bedding, used to fertilize the soil; also, any fertilizing substance.

Verb

  1. To fertilize (soil) with manure.
  2. (obsolete) To cultivate.

Word family

  • manurer
  • manurial

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Manure.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/manure. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·