pollution
Physical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc.
Noun 3 meanings
Physical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc.
“Pollution levels are almost always higher in cities rather than the countryside, what with the cars, industry and so on.”
Something that pollutes; a pollutant.
Moral or spiritual corruption; impurity, degradation, defilement.
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”).
Similar and opposite words
POLLUTION at a glance
POLLUTION has 9 letters and scores 11 points in Scrabble (P 3 + O 1 + L 1 + L 1 + U 1 + T 1 + I 1 + O 1 + N 1) and 16 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #5,063 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with pollution
All rhymesOne letter away
- POLLUSION11
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