pollute

English

Etymology

From Middle English polluten, borrowed from Latin pollūtum, from pollūtus (“no longer virgin", "unchaste”), perfect passive participle of polluō (“soil", "defile", "dishonor”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pəˈluːt/, /pəˈljuːt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːt

Verb

pollute (third-person singular simple present pollutes, present participle polluting, simple past and past participle polluted)

A polluting car in Lusaka (1)

1. (transitive) To make something harmful, especially by the addition of some unwanted product.

   Synonyms: contaminate, poison, taint

   The factory polluted the river when it cleaned its tanks.

2. (transitive) To make something or somewhere less suitable for some activity, especially by the introduction of some unnatural factor.

   Synonyms: blight, mar, ruin; see also Thesaurus:spoil

   The lights from the stadium polluted the night sky, and we couldn't see the stars.

3. To corrupt or profane

   Synonyms: debauch, lead astray; defile, sully; see also Thesaurus:pervert, Thesaurus:desecrate

   • 1952, Bible (Revised Standard Version, Revelation 21:8

     But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

4. To violate sexually; to debauch; to dishonour.

   Synonyms: abuse, outrage, ravish; see also Thesaurus:rape

Derived terms

• depollute
• pollutable
• polluter
• pollutive
• repollute
• self-pollute
• unpollute

Related terms

• pollutant
• pollution

Translations

to make something harmful

• Albanian: ndot (sq)
• Bulgarian: замърсявам (bg) (zamǎrsjavam)
• Burmese: ညစ်ညမ်း (nyacnyam:)
• Czech: znečistit (cs) pf
• Esperanto: polui
• Finnish: saastuttaa (fi)
• French: polluer (fr)
• German: verschmutzen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bisauljan)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: μιαίνω (miaínō), μολύνω (molúnō)

• Ido: polutar (io)
• Irish: éilligh, truailligh
• Italian: inquinare (it)
• Latin: inquinō, polluo
• Marshallese: baijin
• Middle English: polluten
• Polish: skazić, zanieczyszczać (pl) impf, zanieczyścić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: contaminar (pt), poluir (pt)
• Russian: загрязня́ть (ru) impf (zagrjaznjátʹ), загрязни́ть (ru) pf (zagrjaznítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: truaill
• Slovene: onesnaževati impf, onesnažiti pf
• Spanish: contaminar (es), polucionar (es)
• Ukrainian: забру́днювати impf (zabrúdnjuvaty), забрудни́ти pf (zabrudnýty)
• Welsh: llygru (cy)

to make something or somewhere less suitable

• French: polluer (fr)
• Portuguese: poluir (pt), sujar (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: truaill

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} polluer

Adjective

pollute (comparative more pollute, superlative most pollute)

1. (rare) Polluted; defiled.

Translations

polluted

• Finnish: saastunut (fi), pilaantunut (fi)
• French: pollué (fr)
• Portuguese: poluído

References

• “pollute”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Italian

Adjective

pollute

1. feminine plural of polluto

Latin

Participle

pollūte

1. vocative masculine singular of pollūtus

Middle English

Verb

pollute

1. alternative form of polluten