Etymologically
Log in

polluo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 04:08. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɔl.lu.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɔl.lu.o][1]

Forms

polluō (present infinitive polluere, perfect active polluī, supine pollūtum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin por- + *luō (“to soil”), from Proto-Italic *lowe/o- or *lawe/o- and Proto-Indo-European *leu-e/o- or *lHu-e/o- “to soil”.[2][3] Apart from this verb, the other languages have only nouns from the root: lutum “mud”, Ancient Greek λῦμα (lûma, “dirt”) and Old Irish loth (“mud”).[2][3][1] The long /ū/ of the participle pollūtum may follow the pattern of other verbs in ⟨-uere⟩.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cicero, who speaks of parricides who would pollute the sea.[2][4] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to make foul or dirty, as Virgil's Harpies fouling the feast, a use Lewis and Short call very rare.[4][6] More often it meant to make ceremonially impure, to violate or degrade by immoral action, and to defile by illicit intercourse, as Catullus' maiden who has lost her flower.[4] Nigidius, quoted by Isidore, uses it of breaking a fast.[4] Döderlein contrasts contāminō, defilement as corruption, with inquinō, defilement as ugliness.[7]

English pollute “to defile, render ceremonially unclean” appeared in the late 14th century, and the sense “to make physically foul” came later.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of parricides polluting the sea.[4][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of a girl's defiled body.[4][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil's Harpies foul the feast.[4][5]
  • late 14th century – English pollute is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make foul, soil, stain.[4]
  2. To make ceremonially impure, pollute.[4]
  3. To violate, degrade by immoral action.[4]
  4. To defile by illicit intercourse.[4]
  5. To break (a fast).[4]

Word family

  • pollūbrum
  • pollūtiō
  • pollūtrīx
  • pollūtus
  • lutum
  • luēs
  • English pollute
  • English pollution

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com