sully
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English sulien (also sulwen), from Old English sylian (“to sully, soil, pollute”), from Proto-Germanic *suliwōnan, *sulwōnan, *sulwijanan (“to sully, make dirty”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid, muck”). Cognate with Old Saxon sulian (“to sully”), Middle Dutch soluwen (“to sully”), German sühlen (“to sully”), Danish søle (“to sully”), Swedish söla (“to sully”). Perhaps conflated partially with Old French souillier ("to soil";> French souiller), from the same Germanic source. Related also to Old English solian (“to soil, become defiled, make or become foul”). More at soil.
Pronunciation [edit]
Verb [edit]
sully (third-person singular simple present sullies, present participle sullying, simple past and past participle sullied)
- (transitive) to soil or stain; to dirty
- He did not wish to sully his hands with gardening.
- (transitive) to damage or corrupt
- He did not wish to sully his reputation with an ill-mannered comment.
- (intransitive) To become soiled or tarnished.
- Francis Bacon
- Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding.
- Francis Bacon
Translations [edit]
to soil, stain, dirty
