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Sully

//ˈsʌli// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A diminutive of the male given name Sullivan. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    A placename:; A coastal village in the Vale of Glamorgan borough county borough, Wales (OS grid ref ST1568). countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A placename:; A commune in Saône-et-Loire department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    A placename:; A commune in Oise department, Hauts-de-France, France. countable, uncountable
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  1. 6
    A placename:; A commune in Calvados department, Normandy, France. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    A placename:; A minor city in Jasper County, Iowa, United States. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    A placename:; An unincorporated community in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. countable, uncountable
  4. 9
    A placename:; Ellipsis of Sully County. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
Noun
  1. 1
    A blemish. obsolete, rare

    "You laying these ſlight ſallies on my ſonne, / As t'were a thing a little ſoyld with working, […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    To soil or stain; to dirty. transitive

    "He did not wish to sully his hands with gardening."

  2. 2
    charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone wordnet
  3. 3
    To corrupt or damage. transitive

    "She tried to sully her rival’s reputation with a suggestive comment."

  4. 4
    make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically wordnet
  5. 5
    To become soiled or tarnished. ergative, intransitive

    "[G]old bears the fire, which ſilver doth not: but that is an excellency in nature, but it is nothing at all in uſe; for any dignity in uſe I know none, but that ſilvering will ſully and canker more than gilding; […]"

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  1. 6
    place under suspicion or cast doubt upon wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English sulen, sulien (“to become dirty; to defile, pollute, taint”), from Old English sylian (“to soil, pollute; to sully”), from Proto-West Germanic *sulwōn, *sulwijan (“to make dirty; to sully”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid, muck”), perhaps conflated partially with Old French souillier (“to soil”) (modern French souiller) from the same Germanic source. The word is cognate with Danish søle (“to sully”), West Flemish seulewen (“to sully”) (Middle Dutch soluwen (“to sully”)), German sühlen (“to sully”), Old Saxon sulian (“to sully”), Swedish söla (“to sully”). Also compare Middle English sulpen (“to defile, pollute”), Old English solian (“to soil, become defiled, make or become foul”), and see more at soil.

Etymology 2

From Middle English sulen, sulien (“to become dirty; to defile, pollute, taint”), from Old English sylian (“to soil, pollute; to sully”), from Proto-West Germanic *sulwōn, *sulwijan (“to make dirty; to sully”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid, muck”), perhaps conflated partially with Old French souillier (“to soil”) (modern French souiller) from the same Germanic source. The word is cognate with Danish søle (“to sully”), West Flemish seulewen (“to sully”) (Middle Dutch soluwen (“to sully”)), German sühlen (“to sully”), Old Saxon sulian (“to sully”), Swedish söla (“to sully”). Also compare Middle English sulpen (“to defile, pollute”), Old English solian (“to soil, become defiled, make or become foul”), and see more at soil.

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