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Pollution

//pəˈljuːʃən// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Physical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc. uncountable, usually

    "Pollution levels are almost always higher in cities rather than the countryside, what with the cars, industry and so on."

  2. 2
    the act of contaminating or polluting; including (either intentionally or accidentally) unwanted substances or factors wordnet
  3. 3
    Something that pollutes; a pollutant. uncountable, usually
  4. 4
    the state of being polluted wordnet
  5. 5
    The desecration of something holy or sacred; defilement, profanation. archaic, uncountable, usually

    "Men who attend the Altar, and should most / Endevor Peace: thir strife pollution brings / Upon the Temple it self […]."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    undesirable state of the natural environment being contaminated with harmful substances as a consequence of human activities wordnet
  2. 7
    The ejaculation of semen outside of sexual intercourse, especially a nocturnal emission. archaic, uncountable, usually

    "When occasioned by a voluntary act it is called, simply, Pollution or Masturbation (q.v.); when excited, during sleep, by lascivious dreams, it takes the name Noctur'nal pollution, Exoneiro'sis, Oneirog'mos, Oneirog'onos, Gonorrhœ'a dormien'tium, G. oneirog'onos, G. Vera, G. libidino'sa, Proflu'vium Sem'inis, Spermatorrhœ'a, Paronir'ia salax, Night pollution."

  3. 8
    Moral or spiritual corruption; impurity, degradation, defilement. uncountable, usually

    "She condescended to wait on them at Pemberley, in spite of that pollution which its woods had received."

Etymology

From Middle English pollucioun, pollucion (“desecration, impurity”), from Anglo-Norman pollutiun, Middle French pollution, pollucion, and their source, post-classical Latin pollūtiō (“defilement, desecration; nocturnal emission”) (4th century), from the participial stem of polluō (“to soil, defile, contaminate”), from por- (“before”) + -luō (“to smear”), related to lutum (“mud”) and luēs (“filth”). Compare Ancient Greek λῦμα (lûma, “filth, dirt, disgrace”) and λῦμαξ (lûmax, “rubbish, refuse”), Old Irish loth (“mud, dirt”), Lithuanian lutynas (“pool, puddle”).

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